Denver 2022

[rolldodge]

Penn is much better than all that.
They were an overtime game from the final four in 2019.
And they are looking at a 4, 5, 6 seed in this upcoming NCAAs.

One thing, with as many as 5 Ivy teams in this year’s tournament,
the likelihood of seeing that next year is low.

Tournie spots will open up, the Ivy teams don’t have a 5th year
so quite a few of those teams will lose their top stars though the
jury is still out on Handley at Penn.

Doesn’t Georgetown lose McElroy and Bowen next year ?
Villanova is top heavy this year with seniors.

A lot of good players in the portal for next year.
I don’t know much about next year’s incoming players but
Tye Scott is the one guy who did catch my eye.

Meanwhile the Automatic Qualifier has to be decided,

on the field.

Bowen has at least one more year after this.

[cherrylax]

All this recent high performance by the Pios has come against teams that are average to below average opponents. I think DU is probably the 18th best team in the country right now, which is exactly what the ranking says they are, and that's likely to mean that the DU season will end this weekend in Washington.

As much I love my school, I am not ready to buy into any NCAA fantasies this year. That could easily change if they have a great weekend at Georgetown, but I just don't see DU getting by both Villanova AND Georgetown at Cooper Field. Georgetown is probably 6-10 goals better than DU this year and is deeper at every position, and is playing at home for a trophy.

Unfortunately, DU is going to lose most of its offense after this season, including five of its top six scorers - Hannah, Sullivan, Marrocco, Simmons, and Curtis. The fact that this team can't lead the Big East with a senior-laden offense is proof positive that the glory days of DU being almost a perennial NCAA final four team (2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017) are now well behind us. The Pios are a top 20 program and some will be quite happy with that, but those who saw how well DU played in the middle of the last decade are lamenting that the program has fallen from exceptional to just solid...

I thought Simmons and Marrocco had a covid year? They could still choose to take it somewhere else, but if they do come back that would keep our attack intact. Losing Hannah and Sullivan hurts, but I don't think as much as some might believe. Between Lambert, Manning, Kelly, Dwinell?, Geis?, Avery I think we find some guys stepping up and going back to a true rotational midfield versus the defined first line that we've had the last few years.

Looking at newcomers next year, Colm Barnett is a Jeremy Nobleesque (I did say esque) type player of out Avon Old Farms. Small, very quick, and does a great job between the lines. Plus he is from Orangeville the home of Noble. Cade Eldred is big strong athletic lefty, who is coached by former Pio coach Dylan Sheridan at Western Reserve. Both of these guys I believe could contribute right away.

Some say the future of this game is transfers, and I think there are a few that are currently in the transfer portal that we have a legit shot at.

Chris Fake, D, Yale: Good relationship with Yale, and he would definitely be welcome
Austin Madronic, A, Harvard: Another Victoria kid. why not get your fifth year a little closer to home with two of your former junior A teammates
Tucker Dordevic, A/M, Cuse: Maybe wishful thinking, but another guy from the West. Think he would kill it in Matt Brown's offense

Would have loved to take a shot at Brett Dobson. Who knows who else may be in the portal by the year end, but gotta think we add atleast 2 or 3.

Feeling a little more confident going into Thursday night so not giving up on this season yet. I am not sure if this group of seniors/grad students has ever faced a truly win or go home moment in the regular season, but here it is.

[henryben]

All this recent high performance by the Pios has come against teams that are average to below average opponents. I think DU is probably the 18th best team in the country right now, which is exactly what the ranking says they are, and that's likely to mean that the DU season will end this weekend in Washington.

As much I love my school, I am not ready to buy into any NCAA fantasies this year. That could easily change if they have a great weekend at Georgetown, but I just don't see DU getting by both Villanova AND Georgetown at Cooper Field. Georgetown is probably 6-10 goals better than DU this year and is deeper at every position, and is playing at home for a trophy.

Unfortunately, DU is going to lose most of its offense after this season, including five of its top six scorers - Hannah, Sullivan, Marrocco, Simmons, and Curtis. The fact that this team can't lead the Big East with a senior-laden offense is proof positive that the glory days of DU being almost a perennial NCAA final four team (2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017) are now well behind us. The Pios are a top 20 program and some will be quite happy with that, but those who saw how well DU played in the middle of the last decade are lamenting that the program has fallen from exceptional to just solid...

Sadly, I don't think Denver will be able to recruit (and keep) the "hidden gems" and non-hotbed players like they used to.

Imagine this year's team with Sam King, Jake Taylor and Owen Hiltz...all once DU commits. And I'll bet you 10 (or even 5) years ago, a Cali kid like Brad Sharp might've ended up at DU instead of starting at Yale as a freshman.

[DU-fan]

One game at a time. We need everyone locked in against Villanova. Plenty of time to talk about next year after season is over.

I am excited to see what DU shows on the field on Thursday. Hopefully, they get to keep the season going...

[DU-fan]

5 of them will all be back for 1 - 2 years more.

[Puck Swami]

While the Pios fought hard in the fourth quarter in a 15-14 loss to Villanova, poor play in the first three quarters was the story of the game for Denver, ending the worst season finish of the Tierney era in Denver.

“I didn’t have them ready to play at the start,” Denver coach Bill Tierney said to Inside Lacrosse afterward. “The game always comes down to groundballs and emotion. You saw what happened at the end, when we started getting desperate. We started playing the way we should have played the whole time. … We never got into a flow, credit Villanova for that. They played very well tonight.”

At the end of the day, this Denver team underperformed pretty much all season, save for the OSU upset. I wasn't expecting a top 5 or even top 10 team, but I thought Denver had enough talent to be an NCAA tourney level team, and they didn't get it done. They will be lucky to finish in the top 20 this year.
We're seeing the program regressing...

[DU-fan]

That was a very disappointing loss and end of the season. In addition to the players not being as intense and aggressive as Villanova, there were some questionable coaching decisions on the defensive end. The defense was starting to gel over the last few games, but Denver went back to some lineups that were not part of their recent success. By the time, Denver tried to fix it the hole was too big. Near the end of game, the double team with the goalie on attack did not work. I think there were other options that would not have given up such an easy goal. That sealed the loss. Hard to put that on the players when they are not in the right positions.

It reminded me of the Loyola game.

Tough way to end the season two years in a row.

[FMUBart]

I saw that Denver committed several penalties in the 4th quarter(and Nova had zero). Can only imagine the temper tantrums Coach T was having as the flags were being thrown. Interesting that DU scored man down with 11 seconds left...

[darkhaha]

DU was doomed by a brain-dead first quarter last night. We had seven failed clears against Providence (six in the first half), so you would think that might have been a point of emphasis over the past couple weeks. Really maddening, then, to watch us give up TWO empty net goals on the clear in the first half of the first quarter. Add to that some abysmal defensive spacing and coverage for much of the rest of the first half, and not surprising that we dug a hole.

One play in particular really ticked me off; I think it was in the second quarter. We’re trying to claw our way back into the game and there’s a ground ball in our offensive end. It’s a bit of a scrum, and one of our best players totally half-asses going for the ball with one hand on his stick. He’s easily de-twigged by a Villanova defender, they got possession and score in transition. I know I’m a bit of a cranky old man, but this type of disregard for the fundamentals of the game just drives me bonkers.

We cleaned up a lot of things in the second half and made an admirable run in the fourth quarter, but it was too little, too late. All in all, another disappointing season — but obviously that’s because our expectations are so high. Not so easy to stay a top 10 team over the long-haul. Will be very interesting to see what next season brings.

[FlyEaglesFly]

I saw that Denver committed several penalties in the 4th quarter(and Nova had zero). Can only imagine the temper tantrums Coach T was having as the flags were being thrown. Interesting that DU scored man down with 11 seconds left...

It has gotten pretty bad the last couple years, but seems like each year is worse. I know he is the best coach in history, but watching him berate the officials is borderline uncomfortable.

[darkhaha]

Although Tierney’s antics can be embarrassing sometimes, I actually think he’s better than he used to be…

[DU-fan]

DU was doomed by a brain-dead first quarter last night. We had seven failed clears against Providence (six in the first half), so you would think that might have been a point of emphasis over the past couple weeks. Really maddening, then, to watch us give up TWO empty net goals on the clear in the first half of the first quarter. Add to that some abysmal defensive spacing and coverage for much of the rest of the first half, and not surprising that we dug a hole.

One play in particular really ticked me off; I think it was in the second quarter. We’re trying to claw our way back into the game and there’s a ground ball in our offensive end. It’s a bit of a scrum, and one of our best players totally half-asses going for the ball with one hand on his stick. He’s easily de-twigged by a Villanova defender, they got possession and score in transition. I know I’m a bit of a cranky old man, but this type of disregard for the fundamentals of the game just drives me bonkers.

We cleaned up a lot of things in the second half and made an admirable run in the fourth quarter, but it was too little, too late. All in all, another disappointing season — but obviously that’s because our expectations are so high. Not so easy to stay a top 10 team over the long-haul. Will be very interesting to see what next season brings.

I watched the game again today. Why would the coaching staff put Jack Hannah on defense on a double team after a time out near the end of the game with the goalie on the attack side? How could that have worked? Was that the best idea Denver had to win? They were only behind by 1. The odds of that working have to be less than .000000001%. Totally stumped...

[cherrylax]

DU was doomed by a brain-dead first quarter last night. We had seven failed clears against Providence (six in the first half), so you would think that might have been a point of emphasis over the past couple weeks. Really maddening, then, to watch us give up TWO empty net goals on the clear in the first half of the first quarter. Add to that some abysmal defensive spacing and coverage for much of the rest of the first half, and not surprising that we dug a hole.

One play in particular really ticked me off; I think it was in the second quarter. We’re trying to claw our way back into the game and there’s a ground ball in our offensive end. It’s a bit of a scrum, and one of our best players totally half-asses going for the ball with one hand on his stick. He’s easily de-twigged by a Villanova defender, they got possession and score in transition. I know I’m a bit of a cranky old man, but this type of disregard for the fundamentals of the game just drives me bonkers.

We cleaned up a lot of things in the second half and made an admirable run in the fourth quarter, but it was too little, too late. All in all, another disappointing season — but obviously that’s because our expectations are so high. Not so easy to stay a top 10 team over the long-haul. Will be very interesting to see what next season brings.

I watched the game again today. Why would the coaching staff put Jack Hannah on defense on a double team after a time out near the end of the game with the goalie on the attack side? How could that have worked? Was that the best idea Denver had to win? They were only behind by 1. The odds of that working have to be less than .000000001%. Totally stumped...

One of the strangest decisions I have ever seen at the collegiate/high school/high end middle school level. I don't have an issue with putting your goalie at attack, giving you another short stick and more likely for the double team to be successful. What I do have an issue with is putting a first line OFFENSIVE midfielder on the double team, with a long stick. Your telling me of the 12-15 poles we have on the roster, none are better than a player who has never (to my knowledge) played long stick in a division one game?

What a strange year, disappointed for these seniors/grad students they deserved more than one playoff win in their time at DU. I am sure we will see Hannah (and hopefully Sullivan) playing in the PLL, and Reilly Curtis should be a Welcome addition to Rochester of the NLL. I wish them all the best, and hope they continue the tradition of pioneers excelling at the pro level.

Now it is clear to me that this program needs a cultural shake up. As swami already pointed out the regression is real. How do we turn this thing around? What can this program do before people start losing jobs? A few ideas from my 1,000 foot tower.

1. Recruiting, recruiting, recruiting. I have not hidden the fact that I am not pleased with not only the quality of recruits we are bringing in. This staff needs to get back to getting too as many events as they can. I know it sucks to sit in the sun for 10 hours a day, but that is what it takes. Clearly Coach T has earned the right to not have to do this anymore but that means that our other coaches need to pick up the slack. One major thing I have noticed is other large programs usually have a director of ops who can also recruit. With the amount of camps, club teams, etc. that DU has going on I would think this would be a necessity. I also think that this person could help with committed player retention. The days of a verbal commitment and a handshake are gone, you have to keep recruiting your commits, by showing them the love. Weekly phone calls, visits, going to watch their football games, social posts, things of this nature are going to keep players committed to DU. Someone had mentioned this earlier think about if we kept our recruits: Taylor, Hiltz, King, Matsui...

2. Back to basics. Too many times this year did I watch our defense get beat topside, or watch our offense sit back and hope Jack Hannah scored. Defensively I feel like as the quality of athlete has improved, the more dependent we have become on the individual. Think about the great defensemen that have come through our program, Cannon, Burgdorf, Mayle, Gaines, Logan, Johnson, Smith, Ellis, none of these players were tremendous take away defensemen. They played well IN THE SYSTEM, and made others around them better. Too many times this year did I see defenders try to do too much and give up bad goals. Offensively the shot clock era has definitely seen the demise of DU's offense. Every year it seems like I hear coach T say we need to be able to push more transition, and every year we don't. With the amount of skill that we have on offense and with our transitional players we should be able to create opportunities early in possessions. I think it all comes down to trusting your players and letting them make plays/mistakes. Really disappointed in our riding this year, a total nonfactor.

3. We need a guy. Jack Hannah is gone, who replaces him? Sillstrop is our leader in points but disappeared in a few games this year. Simmons is a complimentary scorer, and Marrocco is hot and cold. Defensively Mercurio can be the guy when healthy. Made such a difference when he came back. Dibenedetto is one of those guys I discussed where you don't notice him, but he locks down his guy. My biggest ? on defense is short stick. Casey Wilson showed us a glimpse of what he can do, would love to see him become a Stevens/Currier type midfielder for the pioneers. Who else can pick up this area?

4. Gotta hit the portal hard. Already discussed this, things need to happen and gaps need to be filled. In my opinion we could use: Faceoff competition, two top six midfielders, another SSDM, another attackmen.

Huge offseason. This is a make or break year, a new AD coming in is going to want to see success.

[10stone5]

1. Recruiting, recruiting, recruiting. I have not hidden the fact that I am not pleased with not only the quality of recruits we are bringing in. This staff needs to get back to getting too as many events as they can.

This is similar to any number of other schools.

Recruits are going elsewhere, where they do not have to sit.

The Pios aren’t getting those western recruits,
Handley went to Penn, there were a couple CO recruits that I’m
not sure the Pios sniffed.
The California kids are going elsewhere, Charlie Iler went to
Hopkins, Tristin Jewell went to Hopkins.
The Canadian kids are going elsewhere, Matt Collison went to
Hopkins, Finlay Thomson went to Syracuse.
Are the Pios patched in to Edge Lacrosse and The Hill Academy ?

Look at some of those issues, as opposed to the knee jerk,
someone losing their job.

Tye Scott appears to be a good one.

[Puck Swami]

DU does have a Director of Ops - Sue Kelley, who has been with DU since 2015:
https://denverpioneers.com/sports/mens- ... kelley/587

I doubt she does any recruiting...I don't even know if that's allowed.

[cherrylax]

DU does have a Director of Ops - Sue Kelley, who has been with DU since 2015:
https://denverpioneers.com/sports/mens- ... kelley/587

I doubt she does any recruiting...I don't even know if that's allowed.

Definitely allowed. There are separate rules for director's of Ops but they are definitely out at recruiting events.

https://hopkinssports.com/sports/mens-l ... -cohen/810

Jon used to be the head coach at Heritage and was an assistant, and GM, for the Outlaws.

[henryben]

1. Recruiting, recruiting, recruiting. I have not hidden the fact that I am not pleased with not only the quality of recruits we are bringing in. This staff needs to get back to getting too as many events as they can.

This is similar to any number of other schools.

Recruits are going elsewhere, where they do not have to sit.

The Pios aren’t getting those western recruits,
Handley went to Penn, there were a couple CO recruits that I’m
not sure the Pios sniffed.
The California kids are going elsewhere, Charlie Iler went to
Hopkins, Tristin Jewell went to Hopkins.
The Canadian kids are going elsewhere, Matt Collison went to
Hopkins, Finlay Thomson went to Syracuse.
Are the Pios patched in to Edge Lacrosse and The Hill Academy ?

Look at some of those issues, as opposed to the knee jerk,
someone losing their job.

Tye Scott appears to be a good one.

This is the big issue for sure. I noted earlier - how different is this team with Jake Taylor, Owen Hiltz and Sam King? Now, you can't keep all of them, but you can't lose them all, either.

Plus, the West Coast kids aren't a secret or "unproven" to the east coast coaches anymore. 7 years ago, does Brad Sharp (who will be an All-American, book it) end up at Yale? When his sister plays at DU?

Don't know what the answer is, but our Championship team had Zach Miller, Wes Berg, Connor Cannizzaro, Erik Adamson, Ryan LaPlante, Christian Burgdorf, Mike Riis and Tyler Pace. Aside from Hannah, would any of our current starters be starting in front of those guys?

[cherrylax]

Dropping to the third page? Show's not a whole lot going on in Pio nation. Georgetown ads Minicus (Colgate's leading scorer), Hinks (3 year starter at Dartmouth at goalie, probably a "depth" addition), Jacob Kelly (UNC Attackmen), and word on the grapevine is that a certain midfielder from Syracuse will be a Hoya next year as well.

Denver... Has lost Simmons so far this offseason as well as two other freshman who did not play. Don't think that the portal is the only answer, but somewhat telling.

Some highlights though for some of our recruits

2023 Marek Tzagournis has become the all time leader in points at Dublin Jerome in Ohio as a junior. Was also named the the first team all region attack, offensive player of the year, and player of the year. Older brother Chase is coming in next year and was also named first team all region and midfielder of the year. Marek Reminds me a lot of Leo Johnson at Yale, has two good hands, a quick first step, and solid finishing. Great get right under the buckeyes nose.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGM-4I52tTY&t=81s

Founders League Canadiens: We have two coming from Connecticut in 2022, Colm Barnett and Tye Scott out of Avon Old Farms and Salisbury respectively. Went up a few days ago to watch Barnett live against taft, and although Taft beat Avon pretty good I was very impressed with Barnett. Played lefty attack and just had a nose for the goal. Put himself in great positions throughout the game and has a number of different releases. This kid will play as a freshman. Tye Scott is listed as a captain for Salisbury but haven't been able to find as much on him. In all the highlights I've watched of Salisbury it looks like Trey Deere (Syracuse 23') is at the lefty attack spot where Scott has traditionally played. His older brother was a midfielder for Hobart and Delaware, and with his size (6'3") hopefully he can be a playmaker for us down the road. On another note Aiden Aitken former Denver commit was dominant against Brunswick the other day. Shame to lose him to the terps.

Link to Avon's Maxprep's page, Taft video is all goals from Barnett: https://www.maxpreps.com/ct/avon/avon-o ... /lacrosse/

2023 Maddox Johnson had two goals in the Florida state championship game. Ending the season with 65 G and 14A as a junior.

Junior A has just begun, and I don't think any of our current or future pio's have played yet.

Hoping to see some action in the portal soon, for now...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUTWzVlwGTk