Pioneers Make History to Advance to NCAA Second Round
DENVER--Jeremy Noble had six points on four goals and two assists and Jamie Faus made 13 saves to propel the Denver Pioneers men's lacrosse team to a 13-10 victory Sunday over visiting Villanova in the first round of the NCAA Championship.
A sell-out crowd at Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium witnessed the first NCAA tournament game played west of the Mississippi River, as well as the Pioneers' first tourney win in four tries.
Boxscore, Postgame Quotes
Game recap by Sam Jay, DU Media Relations
The significance of today's men's lacrosse championship first-round game between the No. 6-seeded University of Denver and Villanova at Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium starts at field level: neither team has ever won an NCAA tournament game.
The hidden value of the game, however, is not as obvious.
Sunday's match-up marks the first time an NCAA tournament game has been played west of the Mississippi River and while DU fans are used to playing host to Eastern College Athletic Conference foes, bringing a game of this magnitude to the Mile High City not only shows the rising popularity of lacrosse, but the transcendency of Denver head coach Bill Tierney.
"This game represents a lot on many fronts," said Tierney, the 2011 ECAC Coach of the Year. "It has been recognized as sort of a groundswell for Western lacrosse. I think the fact that the game has sold out already shows people are responding."
Tierney came to DU two seasons ago from Princeton with six NCAA titles and has been an integral to the rising popularity of lacrosse in Denver, hosting summer lacrosse camps for Denver area student-athletes and leading the Pioneers to a spotless 13-0 ECAC record during his two years in town.
Tierney's track record has been hard for Pioneer fans to ignore and with the NCAA putting a tournament game in Denver, the country is noticing as well.
The Pioneers have found themselves on the national scene already this season; playing and winning the ECAC title game last weekend live on ESPNU. ESPNU returns to Barton Lacrosse Stadium on Sunday as DU looks to avenge last year's 9-7 first-round loss to Stony Brook.
"This is a big game for us, but it is just as big for Villanova," Tierney added. "Both teams are looking for their first NCAA tournament win, but we are looking to stay the course and keep this streak going which we've had since the Notre Dame game."
DU fell 10-9 to then No. 3 Notre Dame on March 12 and has not lost since, running off a 10-game win streak that includes a 12-8 victory over No. 12 Loyola (Md.) and 12-9 win over No. 9 Duke. The Pioneers capped the run last week with an 11-9 win over Fairfield to claim the ECAC championship.
For Tierney and Denver, the new season begins Sunday.
"Our guys have done a great job of focusing on winning and taking one game at a time rather than getting wrapped up in the streak," said Tierney. "The thing about the NCAA tournament is that if you win, you keep playing. If you lose that's it."
Besides the historical implications of the game, the big story on the Denver side has been whether or not senior Todd Baxter (Eden Prairie, Minn.) will play. Baxter has joined juniors Alex Demopoulos (Canton, Conn.) and DU's all-time Division I points-getter and ECAC Offensive Player of the Year Mark Matthews (Oshawa, Ontario) in forming a prolific troika on attack, but suffered an injury late in last weekend's championship game and may or may not be on the field come Sunday. Sophomore Eric Law (Centennial, Colo.) and senior Andrew Lay (Denver, Colo.) are two of Tierney's options that could be plugged into Baxter's spot.
Much of the Pioneer success will depend on sophomore Chase Carraro (Louisville, Ky.). Carraro takes the bulk of DU's face-offs and is currently 11th in the nation, winning 61 percent of them.
Senior Jeff Brown (Cohasset, Mass.) leads a corps on defense in charge of shutting down Villanova's scorers. Brown was named to the ECAC First Team this season and along with redshirt-junior Brendan DeBlois (Narragansett, R.I.) and senior Steve Simonetti (Dublin, Ohio) will have to limit the Wildcats' chances.
ECAC Rookie of the Year, freshman Jamie Faus (Lakeville, Conn.) has been stellar in goal for Denver, especially during the Pioneers' 10-game win streak. Faus' .577 save-percentage is ninth in the country and his 8.05 goals-against average is good enough for 16th.
If Denver is to extend the streak to 11 games, Faus and the Pioneer defenders will have to limit what Villanova's Kevin Cunningham and Jack Rice can do. Cunningham leads the Wildcats with 41 points this season and was named to the Big East First Team. Rice scored 32 goals during the season for Villanova and was also named first-team All-Big East.
Denver's offense will have to deal with Villanova's Brian Karalunas, the 2011 Big East Defensive Player of the year and his cohort, Chris Creighton, who was named to the Big East Second Team. Karalunas led the nation in caused turnovers per game (4.53) during the regular season and Creighton is the Wildcats' number one coverage man.
There is little doubt Denver is prepared for Sunday's game. Tierney has had the team focused since the beginning of the season and now is when the prize starts to become tangible.
"These guys know it is win or go home so motivation is not really an issue," added Tierney. "It is going to be a great game."
The affect of a Denver win on lacrosse in the Rocky Mountain region cannot be understated. The fans packing Barton Lacrosse Stadium, sitting on the lawn next to the Ritchie Center or watching on ESPNU are watching more than a NCAA tournament first-round game. They are watching the rise of a new American pastime.
Fans can follow the action on ESPNU, ESPN3.com and through Live Stats. The latter is available via DenverPioneers.com.
