Denver Pioneers 2024

[cherrylax]

Thought I'd get the new thread going.

First some updates on our current recruiting class. Marek Tzagornis has become the all time leader in points in Ohio High school lacrosse history. His Dublin Jerome squad is currently in the section tournament and should end up playing Upper Arlington for the title. Niskayuna (Klokiw and Vorgang) continue to dominate section 2 and are progressing through the playoffs. DJ Clark and Lawrenceville beat Brunswick last Saturday in an awesome game. Clark was poled and almost shut off the entire game, but did have a nice goal in crunch time.

Would love to hear any updates about other guys from the 23 class as well. Hoping that this class can come in and make an impact day 1.

Now that the portal is live we can play our favorite Covid themed game of who would make sense!

Chase Ierlan - Cornell - Goalie
- Following TD's path, could walk into a starting role with a great defense in front of him.

Lucas Osbourne - Yale - Midfield
- a Former 5 star recruit. The Canadien got hurt and never played at Yale giving him 4 years of eligibility. Another Peterborough native who I think would be a similar player to Casey Wilson. Chances are he goes to Cuse to back up English, Stevens, and God knows who else they buy for the year.

Colin Kelly - Canisius - Attack
- A little less well known but I remember watching kelly put up a hat trick against the Pio's his freshman year and since has lead the MACC in scoring the last two years. Has great size at 6'4" 215 and think could make the switch to midfield in Matt Brown's offense. *On another note have to feel for Canisius as there program has been decimated by the portal the last few years and now they are going to be losing 2 of there top 3 scorers from last year.

As the summer continues, more guys will add there name (hopefully not from DU).

As DU wraps up in the next few weeks we should start to get some updates from guys playing north of the border.

[10stone5]

I like Kelly - that would be a good pickup.

[cherrylax]

Forgot to bring up one of the biggest questions the program faces. Who replaces Matt Brown as OC? Obviously I'm sure MB will be involved with the offense but who do they bring back in the paid assistant position?

[cherrylax]

Summer Week 1 Update:

Current Pios: School is just getting out for DU but so far I have heard ZERO on transfers both incoming and outgoing. Overall I lean towards this being a positive in the current climate of college sports. Do think we missed out on a couple of solid options with Kelly from Canisius choosing Rutgers, and Osbourne from Yale choosing JVille, but I am sure we will see some movement in the coming weeks. With school wrapping up I am sure we will see Pios start to show up in Junior A box scores, with Colm Barnett already playing in his first game over the weekend.

Future Pios: Congrats are in order to a couple of incoming recruits. First off Marek Tzagournis and Dublin Jerome took home the Division 1 state championship on Saturday night with Tzagournis putting up 5G and 1A. Marek is now Ohio's all time leader in points by quite a margin with over 450 career points, which is an even more impressive feet considering he lost half a year to Covid.

Greyson Vorgang and Lucas Klukiw lead Niskayuna to another section win over Ballston Spa last week and are progressing through the State tournament after beating Yorktown on Saturday. Vorgang ended the game with 3G and 1A while Klukiw ended with an assist. Nisakyuna takes on Garden City on Wednesday night, and have to be heavy underdogs. Both Vorgang and Klukiw were named US Lacrosse All American's with Vorgang being the first 3X All American in Section 2 History.

After winning a prep championship with Lawrenceville DJ Clark played his first game with the Peterburough Lakers over the weekend. In his first game back Clark put up NINE points in a win. Pio fans should thank the lax gods Gary didn't poach this kid.

Also learned that fellow incoming Canadien Freshman Wyatt Wiggins has decommited from DU and will be attending Harvard in the Fall. Tip of the cap to him, and wish him the best of luck.

Not that you put much stock in it, but I find it interesting that Ohio's all time leader in points, a 3X all american, and possibly the best player on the best team don't get added to the UA All American Game.

No movement on the assistant coach front. Anyone got anything else on any other guys?

[10stone5]

Pios were clear number two - another win or two could have gotten them in,
beat Villanova pretty soundly.

You’d expect some good energy with the new coach
Hoyas lose a lot so I’d expect the gap there to tighten.

[Puck Swami]

Few updates:

-DU defender Gabe Bowen-Slott is in the transfer portal.

-Saw on a social media post that Matt Brown was in talks with former UNC and long-time Tierney Princeton assistant Dave Metzbower about the DU offensive coordinator job. Metz left UNC after last season after nine years including the 2016 NCAA title there, with the last six as associate head coach. He won his first six NCAA titles in his 20 years at Princeton under Bill Tierney years ago, and he's also been an assistant at Delaware and Loyola.

I hope it works out at DU. There is probably no more qualified assistant coach in NCAA lacrosse than Metz.

[cherrylax]

Just working on getting us back onto page one with a mid(ish) summer update.

First no transfers to report, either in or out. Gabe Bowen-Scott has been in the portal for a couple of weeks but haven't heard anything. Seems like every year we get a last minute addition to the incoming class, whether by incoming freshman or transfer so still holding out hope that we get a late addition.

Congrats to incoming freshman Gavin Dallas and Blake Kiesau on playing in the Adrenaline All American game. Didn't catch the game, but an honor none the less. Kiesau will be DU's first ever player from the state of Idaho I believe so excited to have him on campus.

Still have a few guys active north of the border:

Casey Wilson: After coming in second with Team Canada at the world championships, Wilson returns to play senior A lacrosse for the Victoria Shamrocks putting up 20 points in 9 games played. Seems to be playing more of a transition role with the seniors, which is to be expected given the offensive talent in front of him. Expecting a big year out of Wilson, needs to be a leader in the midfield and hoping Metzy let's the kid run a bit more and stay on the field after clearing the ball.

Noah Manning: Staying out west with Noah Manning. A little quieter year for Manning who averaged 3.6 points per game in 10 games played. Victoria is playing Coquitlam in the BCJLL finals and Manning has 25 points in 5 games played. Does he play midfield this year?

Cody Malawsky: Another westerner, Malawsky was traded from Langley to Coquitlam (where his dad was a star). So far he is averaging around 4 points per game between the two teams. In the play offs he has 18 goals in 5 games played. Box has never been a problem for this kid, he has always been a goal scorer inside. My question is does it translate or do we have another Thomas Semple on our hands. If he can play a Riley Curtis role that would be fantastic.

Colm Barnett: let's head out east with Colm who is playing for the best team in Canada right now the Orangeville Northmen. Colm has always played transition and defense in junior A and so far has 6 points in 18 games played. Almost certainly headed for the Minto Cup, this team is loaded on the offensive end with Marquis (Hopkins), Spallina (Syracuse), Matthews (Penn State), Deere (Syracuse), Bucktooth (Syracuse), and many others. Had hopes that Colm would breakout after a 2 goal outing at Duke, but that was really the last we heard from him all season. Could definitely see him being paired with incoming freshman DJ Clark on a midfield line. Speaking of Clark...

DJ Clark: 75 points in 15 games played on a pretty bad Peterborough team. This team lost Owen Hiltz, Carter Page, Dante Kulas, and Clark was still able to average 5 points per game while being surrounded by a very young group. What's even more impressive is that after the end of the Junior A season Clark was called up to play senior A with Peterborough and has 12 points after 4 games. This is a team that is 10-4 and features Holden Cattoni, Turner Evans, Josh Currier, Thomas Hoggarth, Eli McLaughlin, Mike Robinson. Don't think I have ever seen an incoming freshman play Senior A lacrosse. A little nerve racking considering Clark is not a giant, but gotta be excited for this kid to step on campus.

Tye Scott: The great enigma that is Tye Scott. Nothing on him. Bupkis, nada. My hope is that he's taking the summer to get healthy and we can finally see him on the field at DU.

Anyone else have anything?

[10stone5]

Koleton Marquis, of course, has been the find in the Ontario box leagues this summer, no way to project that Marquis was going to improve as much as he did -- so just playing with that stacked team should help Barnett out.

Similar thinking on Clark - Lawrenceville is beyond stacked - so again, just being a part of that will help out Clark.

[Cyborg Reticulan]

I can see Andrew Atchison (Rising Junior, Attackmen) make a huge leap for the 2023-24 season. He has been pushed to the side under the Tierney show but with new Head Coach Matt Brown to the scene I believe Atchison can get the minutes that he needs to become a Michael Sowers-Esque player and lead this Denver Pios team to another national championship. Thoughts?

[10stone5]

Sowers ?

That’s asking a lot.

[Farfromgeneva]

Is Tye Scott still a complete mystery? Anyone hear about his situation for the upcoming season?

[westlax]

I would expect almost zero significant changes for the Pios this year. Brown was running the show before and he will continue to do so. Tierney was clearly focused on the officiating and seemed oblivious on tape about who was subbing in and out. Brown had a few good games where they tried to get the bench some playing time, but by the time the conference play kicked in, they turtled and rode the starters even when it seemed like they should have tried something new. St. Johns game is a good example. I've got money on Denver looking for a new head coach in 3 years and a new D coach summer of '24.

[10stone5]

Couldn’t Brown at least head coach a few games before you fire him ?

[GoPios]

Right? And a new D coach? Denver has a top 10 defense.

[Ptbolax]

DJ Clark has been called up for game 2 tonight of the MSL finals against Six Nations and Lyle Thompson. Six Nations leads the series 1-0. Playing against NLL talent like Cody Jamison Lyle Thompson can only improve your game lol. Should be a sellout crowd tonight.

[Puck Swami]

I would expect almost zero significant changes for the Pios this year. Brown was running the show before and he will continue to do so. Tierney was clearly focused on the officiating and seemed oblivious on tape about who was subbing in and out. Brown had a few good games where they tried to get the bench some playing time, but by the time the conference play kicked in, they turtled and rode the starters even when it seemed like they should have tried something new. St. Johns game is a good example. I've got money on Denver looking for a new head coach in 3 years and a new D coach summer of '24.

Interesting take, westlax.

I think there are bound to be some changes now that Brownie is the man in charge. Tierney was as 'old school' as they come, and while that does create a culture of conformity, loyalty and service to others, I am thinking that DU might now be keeping some of that core, but moving toward a bit less rigidity under Brown. If that happens, perhaps the innate creativity of many of these players might be flowing a bit more, and that could create more fun, more goals, more transition and unsettled opportunities - in short, the kind of program where players want to risk and grow.

On the other hand, you could be right. DU has been drifting down from elite level to just a good college program since 2017, and recruiting has suffered as a result. If Brown can't get DU back to elite status in 3-4 years, I think a housecleaning will be in order. DU is budgeted to be among the elite in sport, and since the Pios were already elite from 2011 to 2017 or so, there will be new pressure to get there again. Denver is very much a bandwagon town, and when the team stumbles, the fans can easily find other things to occupy their time. DU had a real sense of beyond-campus momentum in the city a decade ago, when they were playing regular season games against Notre Dame and drawing 12,000-15,000 fans (and up to 2,000 students) to mile high stadium. Now, Notre Dame has dropped DU from its schedule, and the mile high games are no more. It's time to get the program's mojo back...LFG!

[10stone5]

just a good college program

Nothing wrong with that.

The 2018 was VG, but ran into that buzzsaw Albany team.
2021 was a talented team as well.

[Puck Swami]

Pioneers announced that they are getting an Covid extra year from seven senior players - Sillstrop, Connell, Edinger, Stathakis, Hangland, Mercurio and DiBennedetto.

https://denverpioneers.com/news/2023/8/ ... 0UE6HINtwg

This should help enormously in Brown's first season...

[cherrylax]

Pioneers announced that they are getting an Covid extra year from seven senior players - Sillstrop, Connell, Edinger, Stathakis, Hangland, Mercurio and DiBennedetto.

https://denverpioneers.com/news/2023/8/ ... 0UE6HINtwg

This should help enormously in Brown's first season...

No Malik Sparrow. Interesting. Seemed like his playing time had dwindled a bit last year, and maybe the staff didn't ask him back. Either way thank goodness we got Stath back, no other member of the team has taken a FO yet in college so that would've been tough.

[oldbartman]

Pioneers announced that they are getting an Covid extra year from seven senior players - Sillstrop, Connell, Edinger, Stathakis, Hangland, Mercurio and DiBennedetto.

https://denverpioneers.com/news/2023/8/ ... 0UE6HINtwg

This should help enormously in Brown's first season...

And may contribute to the issues Rutgers and tOSU had this past season.