The Denver Pioneers men's lacrosse team represents the

University of Denver The University of Denver (DU) is a private research university in Denver, Colorado, United States. Founded in 1864, it has an enrollment of approximately 5,700 undergraduate students and 7,200 graduate students. It is classified among "R1: D ...

(DU) in

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

(NCAA) Division I

college lacrosse College lacrosse is played by student-athletes at colleges and university, universities in the United States and Canada. In both countries, men's field lacrosse and women's lacrosse are played at both the varsity and club levels. College lacrosse ...

. The DU men's lacrosse program was first introduced in 1966 as a club sport. The program alternated between varsity and club status until entering Division I in 1999. Since the 2014 season, the Pioneers have competed as an associate member of the

Big East Conference The Big East Conference (stylized as BIG EAST) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference that competes in National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA NCAA Division I, Division I in 10 men's sports and 12 women's sports. H ...

. DU was initially a Big East member in men's lacrosse only, but added women's lacrosse to its Big East membership in advance of the 2017 season. Before DU's move to the Big East for the 2014 season, it had been a member of the Great Western Lacrosse League from 1998 to 2009 and then the ECAC Lacrosse League from 2010 to 2013. Through 2015, Denver has an all-time varsity record of 272–203–1. In Division I alone, they are 173–95. Denver plays its home games at Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium, which has a capacity of 2,000 people.

Early years

The

first began sponsoring men's lacrosse as a club sport in 1966 under coach Pete Richardson. Over the next 24 years, the team would alternate between varsity and club status in the RMLA, a member of the US Lacrosse Intercollegiate Associates (USLIA). In 1991, Denver transitioned into

NCAA Division II NCAA Division II (D-II) is the intermediate-level division of competition in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). It offers an alternative to both the larger and better-funded Division I and to the scholarship-free environment ...

as a member of the RMILL before making the full transition to Division I with the rest of DU sports in 1999. The Pioneers first joined the Great Western Lacrosse League (GWLL) as a charter member in 1994, although the Pioneers would not compete in the conference as a full Division I member until 1999. In 1999, Denver hired Jamie Munro as head coach for the team's inaugural season in Division I and the GWLL. Under Munro, the Pioneers would win their first conference regular season title after finishing with a 4–1 conference record (tied with Notre Dame and

Ohio State The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one of the largest universities by enrollme ...

). After winning the GWLL outright in 2006 with a 5–0 conference record, Denver earned a bid to their first NCAA Tournament, where they would fall 16–8 to

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

. Two years later the Pioneers again shared the GWLL regular season title with Notre Dame and Ohio State, but earned an at-large bid to the 2008 NCAA Tournament with a 10–7 overall record. Denver would lose to Maryland once again, this time 10–7. After finishing 1–4 in the conference and 7–8 overall in 2009, Jamie Munro resigned. Munro finished with a 90–70 record as head coach of the Pioneers, securing four GWLL Championship titles (2003, 2005, 2006, 2008) and two NCAA postseason tournament appearances (2006, 2008). He was also named GWLL Coach of the Year in 2000 and 2006.

Bill Tierney era

In 2009,

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coach Bill Tierney was named head coach of the Pioneers. Tierney was previously the coach at Princeton for 22 years, earning 6 NCAA championships in 9 years, appearing in 8 championship games, 9 Final Fours and 11 Ivy League championships. In 2010, the Pioneers tied the program-best record of 12–5 and earned the ECAC regular season title after completing a 7–0 conference record. Denver would earn just their third NCAA Tournament berth, where they would lose to Stony Brook, 9–7, in the first round. In 2011, the Pioneers completed a 15–3 record, again going undefeated in the ECAC at 6–0 to capture the conference regular season and tournament championships. In the 2011 NCAA Tournament the No. 6-seeded Pioneers hosted No. 11 Villanova in front of a standing room-only home crowd of 2,575. In the first NCAA Tournament game to ever be held west of the Mississippi River, Denver earned its first ever tournament win, beating Villanova 13–10 to advance to the quarterfinals. In the quarterfinal round Denver defeated

Johns Hopkins Johns Hopkins (May 19, 1795 – December 24, 1873) was an American merchant, investor, and philanthropist. Born on a plantation, he left his home to start a career at the age of 17, and settled in Baltimore, Maryland, where he remained for mos ...

14–9 at James M. Shuart Stadium in

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to earn a spot in the NCAA Final Four. At

M&T Bank Stadium M&T Bank Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium located in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. It has been the home of the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League (NFL) since its opening in 1998. The stadium is immediately adjacent to Oriol ...

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the Pioneers would fall to the eventual champion

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

by a score of 14–8. Following the school's first NCAA Final Four, the Pioneers completed a 9–7 record while going 3–3 in the ECAC. Although the 9–7 regular season tally did not compare to previous season records, Denver lost six one–goal games, including four in overtime throughout the season. The Pioneers would still make the 2012 NCAA Tournament thanks to one of the toughest schedules in the country. In the first round the Pioneers defeated

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

16–14 in

Chapel Hill, North Carolina Chapel Hill is a town in Orange County, North Carolina, Orange and Durham County, North Carolina, Durham counties, North Carolina, United States. Its population was 61,960 in the 2020 United States census, making Chapel Hill the List of municipa ...

, but would go on to lose to conference rival and eventual national champion Loyola-Maryland for the third time, by a score of 10–9 in front of 13,390 fans at the

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. In 2013, Denver would once again capture the ECAC regular season crown after earning a 6–1 conference record and an 11–3 overall record. After the 11th week of the season Denver would earn the No. 1 ranking in both the Nike/Inside Lacrosse Media Poll and the USILA Coaches Poll, the first time in program history that they have been ranked No. 1 in the country. Denver would go on to lose to

in the ECAC title game, but the Pioneers would earn an at-large bid to the 2013 NCAA Tournament. In the first round Denver would host just the second NCAA Tournament game held west of the Mississippi at a sold out Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium. A record 2,621 fans were on hand to see Denver top Albany 19–14. In the quarterfinals, Denver faced a rematch of a 2011 first round game against

, this time at

Lucas Oil Stadium Lucas Oil Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in downtown Indianapolis, downtown Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. It replaced the RCA Dome as the home field of the Indianapolis Colts of the National Football League (NFL). It opened on August ...

Indianapolis, Indiana Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

. After falling behind 6–0 early on, the Pioneers were behind 9–4 at the half but would go 8–2 in the second half, including 5–1 in the final quarter to win 12–11. Denver became the first team in Men’s Lacrosse Championship Quarterfinal history to win after trailing by five goals or more. In the Pioneer's second semifinal appearance in three years, Denver would fall to Syracuse 9–8 at

Lincoln Financial Field Lincoln Financial Field is an American football stadium in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It is the home stadium of the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League (NFL) and the Temple Owls football team of Temple University ...

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. Denver would end the season 14–5 and ranked No. 4 in the final polls. The 2015 season was the most successful in DU lacrosse history. The Pioneers won both the Big East regular-season and tournament titles, earning a #4 seed in that year's NCAA tournament. They went on to win the NCAA title, defeating Maryland in the final at Lincoln Financial Field and becoming the first-ever NCAA men's lacrosse champion from outside the

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. On January 5, 2023, Tierney announced he would retire at the end of the 2023 season. During the 2023 season, Tierney's top assistant Matt Brown, also a former Pioneers player, was announced as Tierney's replacement.

Season Results

The following is a list of Denver's season results since becoming an NCAA Division II program in 1991 and becoming a full member of Division I in 1999: {, class="wikitable" , - ! style=";", Season !! style=";", Coach !! style=";", Overall !! style=";", Conference !! style=";", Standing !! style=";", Postseason , - align="center" †The NCAA canceled 2020 collegiate activities due to the COVID-19 virus.

Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium

Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium was completed in time for the 2005 collegiate lacrosse season in February and was formally dedicated on April 30, 2005. It is the first collegiate stadium in the nation to be designed solely for lacrosse, and is home to DU men's and women's lacrosse teams.The north-facing stadium can accommodate approximately 2,000 people and features pre-cast concrete bench seating, locker rooms for men and women, public restrooms, a concession area, viewing pavilion/conference room and a two-direction press box that also serves the soccer field to the south. The stadium is named for the late Peter Barton, who was the former president and chief executive of cable television company Liberty Media Corp. Laura Barton, Peter Barton’s widow, donated the lead gift for the $6.32 million stadium complex. Other prominent donors were John and Anna Sie, and Myra Levy, whose family used to sell concessions at DU football games. With a capacity of approximately 2,000, Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium has hosted 26 sellout games (including an exhibition match against Johns Hopkins on January 30, 2016), including eight in a row (as of 2/28/16). DU is 76–14 all time at Peter Barton Lacrosse, including 45–5 under Coach Bill Tierney, and 21–4 in sellout games. The 10 highest attendance games are listed below: {, class="wikitable" , - ! style=";", Rank !! style=";", Attendance !! style=";", Date !! style=";", Result !! style=";", Opponent , - , 1 , , 3,311 , , , , L 8–10 , , Towson , - , 2 , , 3,117 , , , , W 19–7 , , Georgetown , - , 3 , , 3,037 , , , , L 13-15 , ,

Yale Yale University is a private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, and one of the nine colonial colleges ch ...

, - , 4 , , 3,025 , , , , W 17-16 , , Cornell , - , 5 , , 2,969 , , , , W 16-8 , , Marquette , - , 6 , , 2,965 , , , , W 16-11* , ,

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

, - , 7 , , 2,759 , , , , W 12–0 , , Canisius , - , 8 , , 2,748 , , , , W 9–5* , ,

, - , 9 , , 2,728 , , , , W 11–10 , , Notre Dame , - , 10 , , 2,715 , , , , W 15–4 , , Villanova *NCAA Tournament Game

References

External links

Official website
{{Big East Conference men's lacrosse navbox 1966 establishments in Colorado Lacrosse clubs established in 1966