Well, color me surprised. Very good start for the Pios on the road with a 13-7 win vs Air Force. The game was close until the fourth quarter when DU ran away with it.
Pios started a close defense of three guys with a grand total of 5 games of college experience (Hagland - 0, DiBenndetto -0 and Tezak (5 games last year). and held a good AFA offense to seven goals.
With Stathakis scooping 76% of the face offs for DU, the Pios would get 34 shots on goal and score 13 times. Pretty efficient.
Denver 2020
Re: Denver 2020
Denver looked good to start the season. Freshman made big contributions.
Freshman Stats:
Freshman Stats:
- 6 of 8 Caused Turnovers (Sparrow 2, DiBenedeto 2, Hangland 1, Sillstrop 1)
- 19 of 34 GB (Stathakis 12)
- 6 of 13 Goals (Stillstrop 5, Mercurio 1)
- 16-21 on face offs (Stathakis)
- 5-10 Starters (DiBenedeto, Hangland, Stathakis, Sparrow, Sillstrop)
- Cole French looked good in goal. (.588 Save %, 10 saves)
- Alex Simmons (1G, 1 GB) looked good playing with Jack Hannah (1G, 1 GB) and Ted Sullivan (1G)
- Drew Erickson (1 G)
- Ellis Geis (1 GB) played some midi. He looks healthy after going out with an ACL last season.
- Johnny Morrocco started and looked solid
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laxadaisical
- Posts: 17
- Joined: Mon Oct 22, 2018 12:03 pm
Re: Denver 2020
Watching the game yesterday, it appears that recruiting effectiveness is unrelated to the number of stars Ty Xanders assigns your squad. While many teams park their recruits on the red shirt bench, these Freshmen will be relied upon. Spoke with a few parents and the recruiting journeys are unique, some stayed clear of club ball, others started playing late in high school. Commonality is athleticism. Hangland and Mercurio are nimble giants. Stathakis is a tank, just unmovable. Sparrows footwork is great. Sillstrop is very quick and not afraid to initiate. Gotta hand it to the coaches for working hard to mine these guys and get them to DU.
Re: Denver 2020
What a great outing by Sillstrop — 5 goals on 5 shots (against a hot goalie), 2 ground balls and 0 turnovers. Can hardly wait for the home opener on Saturday!
Anyone have an update on Colin Squires’s condition? Hope he’s doing all right...
Anyone have an update on Colin Squires’s condition? Hope he’s doing all right...
Re: Denver 2020
Radio announcers made it sound like Squires will be out about 4 weeks.
Re: Denver 2020
I think he is recovering from a dislocated shoulder
Re: Denver 2020
That was a tough loss. Duke played a great game and controlled the ball for most of the first half. It was nice to see Denver rally back from being down 2-8 and 4-10. But, the hole was too big. Jack Hannah had a great game. Ethan Walker did well too.
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Puck Swami
- Posts: 204
- Joined: Fri Feb 08, 2019 4:32 pm
Re: Denver 2020
I have always believed that otherwise talented teams who start games slowly and fall behind are just showing that they don't really believe in themselves yet, based on self-confidence fluctuations. It is correctable over the course of the season, as young players develop, and trust grows between players and more winning creates the sense of unity and self-belief.
Hopefully, the DU comeback vs Duke in the second half is something that can be built upon, but as we are seeing with the #7 ranked Denver hockey team this season, against top level teams in both sports, DU seems to lack self confidence early enough to score early on good teams and make the opponent chase the game. Our current Pioneer teams seem to play better once they have already been punched in the face, but of course, against good teams, the margin for error is smaller and energy spent chasing the game is seldom there when the Pios really need it at crunch time.
Perhaps Carle and Tierney will figure out how to get their respective teams ready to play well out of the chute and sustain it. However, if DU teams will only play better by counter-punching later in games, it's unlikely that either team will finish this year on championship weekend.
Hopefully, the DU comeback vs Duke in the second half is something that can be built upon, but as we are seeing with the #7 ranked Denver hockey team this season, against top level teams in both sports, DU seems to lack self confidence early enough to score early on good teams and make the opponent chase the game. Our current Pioneer teams seem to play better once they have already been punched in the face, but of course, against good teams, the margin for error is smaller and energy spent chasing the game is seldom there when the Pios really need it at crunch time.
Perhaps Carle and Tierney will figure out how to get their respective teams ready to play well out of the chute and sustain it. However, if DU teams will only play better by counter-punching later in games, it's unlikely that either team will finish this year on championship weekend.
Re: Denver 2020
Honestly thought the player we missed most was Neufeldt. Thought Stathakis worked his butt of but wings didn't do their part, can't think of one big 50/50 GB that went the pio's way.
Goal tending strikes again with both goalies well below 50%. Good news is this weekend we should have two games where our young defensive unit can get more experience and get their confidence back before playing the gauntlet of UNC, ND, and OSU.
Goal tending strikes again with both goalies well below 50%. Good news is this weekend we should have two games where our young defensive unit can get more experience and get their confidence back before playing the gauntlet of UNC, ND, and OSU.
Re: Denver 2020
Nice summary by Puck Swami. St. Bonaventure is a young team.
https://letsgodu.com/2020/02/22/pioneer ... f-classic/
PIONEER MEN’S LACROSSE DESTROYS WINLESS ST. BONAVENTURE, 16-3 IN FACE-OFF CLASSIC
FEBRUARY 22, 2020 PUCK SWAMI
What a difference a week makes at Barton Stadium.
Last Saturday, the Pioneers went toe-to-toe with a storied Duke program, losing 15-13.
This Saturday, before another sellout crowd of 2,000+ at Barton Stadium, Denver faced the St. Bonaventure Bonnies from New York State, representing the polar opposite side of the D-I college lacrosse spectrum — a second-year program that has yet to win a single D-I lacrosse game. The #13th-ranked Pioneers made sure it stayed that way, cruising to a 16-3 beat-down of the Bonnies behind the balanced scoring of 13 players at DU’s Barton Stadium on Feb. 22 in the annual Face-Off Classic.
The Pios, wearing black uniforms, jumped out to 5-1 lead in the first period, extended it to 10-1 at halftime, and throttled back a bit in the second half with a big lead, dominating the face-off X, winning 20 out of 23 face-offs — Alec Stathakis’ won 14 of 16, while [Brett] Boos won 6 of 7 for Denver. The Bonnies tried four different players at X to stop Stathakis and Boos, but could only win 3 of 23 faceoffs on the day. DU also won the ground ball battle, 39-19.
Freshman attackman J.J. Sillstrop led the way for the Pioneers with a 3-goal hat trick (the second such feat for the Californian in his three college games so far), Drew Erickson added two goals for DU and the Pioneers got single-goal scoring from 10 other players. The Pioneers were able to play much of the roster in the rout, with three different DU goalies getting playing time in the contest. DU played mostly reserve players in the entire fourth quarter en-route to the win.
And it certainly could have been a lot worse for the Bonnies, were it not for the heroics of SBU goalie Brett Dobson, who had an outstanding 18 saves in the contest on 34 DU shots on goal. SBU could only manage two shots on goal in the first half against DU’s best players, and finished with just eight total shots on the afternoon. Matthew DeGirolamo had two of SBU’s three markers to pace the Bonnies.
Denver moved to 2-1 on the young season. The Bonnies, who went 0-13 last year as a brand new lacrosse program, and were 0-2 coming into Denver’s Face Off Classic, fell to 0-3 this year and remain looking for the program’s first victory.
The Pios will next face the Cleveland State Vikings tomorrow (Sunday) at 4:30 PM MT in the finale of the Face-Off Classic.
https://letsgodu.com/2020/02/22/pioneer ... f-classic/
PIONEER MEN’S LACROSSE DESTROYS WINLESS ST. BONAVENTURE, 16-3 IN FACE-OFF CLASSIC
FEBRUARY 22, 2020 PUCK SWAMI
What a difference a week makes at Barton Stadium.
Last Saturday, the Pioneers went toe-to-toe with a storied Duke program, losing 15-13.
This Saturday, before another sellout crowd of 2,000+ at Barton Stadium, Denver faced the St. Bonaventure Bonnies from New York State, representing the polar opposite side of the D-I college lacrosse spectrum — a second-year program that has yet to win a single D-I lacrosse game. The #13th-ranked Pioneers made sure it stayed that way, cruising to a 16-3 beat-down of the Bonnies behind the balanced scoring of 13 players at DU’s Barton Stadium on Feb. 22 in the annual Face-Off Classic.
The Pios, wearing black uniforms, jumped out to 5-1 lead in the first period, extended it to 10-1 at halftime, and throttled back a bit in the second half with a big lead, dominating the face-off X, winning 20 out of 23 face-offs — Alec Stathakis’ won 14 of 16, while [Brett] Boos won 6 of 7 for Denver. The Bonnies tried four different players at X to stop Stathakis and Boos, but could only win 3 of 23 faceoffs on the day. DU also won the ground ball battle, 39-19.
Freshman attackman J.J. Sillstrop led the way for the Pioneers with a 3-goal hat trick (the second such feat for the Californian in his three college games so far), Drew Erickson added two goals for DU and the Pioneers got single-goal scoring from 10 other players. The Pioneers were able to play much of the roster in the rout, with three different DU goalies getting playing time in the contest. DU played mostly reserve players in the entire fourth quarter en-route to the win.
And it certainly could have been a lot worse for the Bonnies, were it not for the heroics of SBU goalie Brett Dobson, who had an outstanding 18 saves in the contest on 34 DU shots on goal. SBU could only manage two shots on goal in the first half against DU’s best players, and finished with just eight total shots on the afternoon. Matthew DeGirolamo had two of SBU’s three markers to pace the Bonnies.
Denver moved to 2-1 on the young season. The Bonnies, who went 0-13 last year as a brand new lacrosse program, and were 0-2 coming into Denver’s Face Off Classic, fell to 0-3 this year and remain looking for the program’s first victory.
The Pios will next face the Cleveland State Vikings tomorrow (Sunday) at 4:30 PM MT in the finale of the Face-Off Classic.
Re: Denver 2020
Caddy Day
Caddies Welcome 1-1:15
Caddies Welcome 1-1:15
Re: Denver 2020
It was beautiful, sunny, and 56 degrees for the Saturday games.
Today it is snowing. It will be snowing for the Air Force / St. Bonaventure game. The snow is supposed to stop by 3 PM. But, it will get cold for the 4:30 Cleveland St. / Denver game.
Denver will have a much tougher match up based on Cleveland State performance against AF. It will be a great test to see how both teams respond after bigs wins on Saturday. Denver will need to control the ball, play strong defense, protect the goal, and run their offense to score early and often. Hopefully, the weather improves.
Today it is snowing. It will be snowing for the Air Force / St. Bonaventure game. The snow is supposed to stop by 3 PM. But, it will get cold for the 4:30 Cleveland St. / Denver game.
Denver will have a much tougher match up based on Cleveland State performance against AF. It will be a great test to see how both teams respond after bigs wins on Saturday. Denver will need to control the ball, play strong defense, protect the goal, and run their offense to score early and often. Hopefully, the weather improves.
Re: Denver 2020
Great defensive effort today. Cleveland State is a quick hard working team. Their goalie, Gareth Haigh, played very well tonight with 12 saves.
https://letsgodu.com/2020/02/23/denver- ... and-state/
MEN'S LACROSSE
DENVER USES RELENTLESS DEFENSE IN 10-6 WIN OVER CLEVELAND STATE
FEBRUARY 23, 2020 LETSGODU
Denver (3-1) used a smothering defense and forced turnovers (24) to down the Cleveland State Vikings 10-6 at the 2020 Faceoff Classic at Peter Barton Stadium. Denver had a narrow 5-4 halftime lead but broke open the game with timely goals and sustained defensive pressure to pull away to a 10-6 final score.
In the first period, red-hot Jack Hannah scored two goals to match Cleveland state 2-2. CSU struck twice in the first 10 minutes of the second quarter to take a 4-2 lead but DU’s Alex Simmons and Schuyler Blair drew the score even, 4-4, with 3 minutes to go in the first half. With under a minute to go, JJ Sillstrop put the Pioneers up 4-5 heading into the break.
The Pioneers struggled at the X during the first 30 minutes, with the Vikings winning faceoffs (7-11) and ground balls (18-9). But, Denver’s tight, physical defense kept the score close and forced the Vikings into turnovers and several clock violations.
Denver carried their defensive effort over to the second half and began to wear down CSU. While Denver shut down Cleveland’s offense, Stephen Masi put Denver up by two at 9:37 of the third period. Jack Hannah struck three minutes later for his hat trick to make the score 7-5. In the fourth period, Denver reeled off three goals in a row to double up CSU 10-5. Schuyler Blair, Ethan Walker, and Drew Erickson accounted for Denver’s final goals on the afternoon. In the waning seconds, Cleveland got a final goal from Ryan Haigh but it was too little, too late for the visitors.
Denver’s defense only allowed 29 shots on the afternoon and forced 24 turnovers in what was their best defensive effort so far this season. Cleveland led DU on ground balls 18-9 the first half but DU closed the gap and finishes 28-26, trailing the Vikings by two.
Next up is Denver versus North Carolina on Sunday March 1st 1:00 pm MT at Peter Barton Stadium.
https://letsgodu.com/2020/02/23/denver- ... and-state/
MEN'S LACROSSE
DENVER USES RELENTLESS DEFENSE IN 10-6 WIN OVER CLEVELAND STATE
FEBRUARY 23, 2020 LETSGODU
Denver (3-1) used a smothering defense and forced turnovers (24) to down the Cleveland State Vikings 10-6 at the 2020 Faceoff Classic at Peter Barton Stadium. Denver had a narrow 5-4 halftime lead but broke open the game with timely goals and sustained defensive pressure to pull away to a 10-6 final score.
In the first period, red-hot Jack Hannah scored two goals to match Cleveland state 2-2. CSU struck twice in the first 10 minutes of the second quarter to take a 4-2 lead but DU’s Alex Simmons and Schuyler Blair drew the score even, 4-4, with 3 minutes to go in the first half. With under a minute to go, JJ Sillstrop put the Pioneers up 4-5 heading into the break.
The Pioneers struggled at the X during the first 30 minutes, with the Vikings winning faceoffs (7-11) and ground balls (18-9). But, Denver’s tight, physical defense kept the score close and forced the Vikings into turnovers and several clock violations.
Denver carried their defensive effort over to the second half and began to wear down CSU. While Denver shut down Cleveland’s offense, Stephen Masi put Denver up by two at 9:37 of the third period. Jack Hannah struck three minutes later for his hat trick to make the score 7-5. In the fourth period, Denver reeled off three goals in a row to double up CSU 10-5. Schuyler Blair, Ethan Walker, and Drew Erickson accounted for Denver’s final goals on the afternoon. In the waning seconds, Cleveland got a final goal from Ryan Haigh but it was too little, too late for the visitors.
Denver’s defense only allowed 29 shots on the afternoon and forced 24 turnovers in what was their best defensive effort so far this season. Cleveland led DU on ground balls 18-9 the first half but DU closed the gap and finishes 28-26, trailing the Vikings by two.
Next up is Denver versus North Carolina on Sunday March 1st 1:00 pm MT at Peter Barton Stadium.
Re: Denver 2020
Interesting this far into the season how fluid the goalie situation remains. Hope one of the guys is able to take the reins and hold on to them. Thompson looked fine, strong clearing goalie, now someone needs to steal a few tough shots in a game situation.
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Puck Swami
- Posts: 204
- Joined: Fri Feb 08, 2019 4:32 pm
Re: Denver 2020
DU's goaltending saves percentage is getting worse every single season since 2015:
DU's Goalie Saves Percentage:
2020 - .436
2019 - .474
2018 - .475
2017 - .480
2016 - .515
2015 - .541
At the same time, goalies playing DU are also getting better each season, too.
Opposing Saves Percentage:
2020 - .540
2019 - .509
2018 - .450
2017 - .432
2016 - .418
My belief is that if the Pios can't get their own goalies back to at least 50%, I don't see them being top 5 program again.
DU's Goalie Saves Percentage:
2020 - .436
2019 - .474
2018 - .475
2017 - .480
2016 - .515
2015 - .541
At the same time, goalies playing DU are also getting better each season, too.
Opposing Saves Percentage:
2020 - .540
2019 - .509
2018 - .450
2017 - .432
2016 - .418
My belief is that if the Pios can't get their own goalies back to at least 50%, I don't see them being top 5 program again.
Re: Denver 2020
Perhaps someone knows Trevor's number and can call him back on to the DU sidelines? 
Re: Denver 2020
I watched the UNC@Hop game Saturday. UNC looks light years better than we do. They might win in lopsided fashion. They will probably expose our inexperienced defense. Hope I'm wrong and some Tierney magic figures out a way to sneak out a win.
Re: Denver 2020
Some numbers from UNC. Their Save Percentage so far .565. Opponents Save Percentage .393. For Pios to win, those number need to be worse in the first category, and much better in the second. Season to date for us, we are saving .436, opponents at .540, so it looks like, just from the goalie POV, the field is tilted against us.