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Lacrosse Remains Growing Niche Sport
Post Script: Big 12 May Alter WCC Landscape
One additional change facing the West Coast Conference is the potential loss of BYU. According to an article published yesterday in Sports Illustrated: Campus Crush, BYU, an independent football power and WCC member in all other sports, is the first choice of the Big 12 for expansion. Currently sitting with 10 football teams, the Big 12 needs two more football teams to create two divisions and a conference championship. The other two schools being considered are Cincinnati and Colorado State. As for BYU, the article states, "BYU has an increased desire to join the league (Big 12) because of the yawning perception gap between the Power Five (football schools) and everyone else. BYU realizes it won't be treated like Notre Dame as an independent, so this seems like the most logical move for both sides."
Sweden Jolts US Juniors 1-0
Following a thrilling win against Canada in game 1 of the U20 World Junior Championships in Helsinki, Finland, the US dropped their second game this morning to Sweden 1-0. The Swedish goaltender, Linus Soderstrom, turned back 46 shots from Team USA for the win. After 12 straight losses to the Americans over a 20 year span at the World Juniors, the Swedes caught the yanks napping with their only goal at 2:41 into the second period on a break-away, top shelf shot from Alex Nylader.
The US controlled play but could not beat Soderstrom, despite 6 power play opportunities.
Next up for the Team USA (1-1) are the Swiss (0-2) on Wednesday.
The West Coast Conference - Risk & Reward
Photo: Beach volleyball, the fastest growing NCAA sport
Imagine Pacific University rolling into Denver to play beach volleyball - the fastest-growing NCAA sport with 50 colleges and universities playing as of January 2015. Or picture DU cross country runners training over at Washington park, getting ready for the December NCAA championships. What about heading across I-25 to a refurbished South High Stadium to watch the Pios take on BYU in baseball or watch women's softball against San Francisco? On a sunny fall day, how about heading out to Cherry Creek to watch a women's collegiate rowing meet with BYU, Portland and Santa Clara?
US Schools Canada 4-2 in Round 1
In a battle of country hockey powers, US collegians made the difference in a 4-2 victory over team Canada in the U-20 World Juniors Championships, round 1, in Helsinki, Finland.
Boston University's Colin White, Michigan's Zack Werenski and Miami's Louis Belpedio scored one goal each. Austin Mathews was the only non-collegian US goal scorer. Mathews scored the final dagger in the third period.
Leftovers and Loose Ends
Below are links to various hockey stories of interest - some old, some new.
- USCHO had a feature article on former Pioneer Angelo Ricci. http://www.uscho.com/2015/12/22/checking-in-former-denver-player-angelo-ricci-coaches-the-next-generation-in-colorado/
- Avery Peterson, a former Mr. Hockey - Minnesota, departed the UNO hockey program at the break. He had a strong freshman year but was struggling this year and has a sick brother back in Minnesota. http://www.omaha.com/uno/avery-peterson-s-departure-shocks-uno-teammates/article_7db8097c-a720-5125-8ca4-58e892c3da88.html
- Junior forward Nick Roberto from Boston University was suspended one year for gambling. Few details are available but, likely, not college hockey. Per College Hockey News, according to NCAA by-laws, a player who is found gambling on any sporting event, amateur or pro in any sport, via a “bookie” or the Internet, faces a minimum one-year suspension. Other gambling, even through legal means such as fantasy sports, are subject to a suspension of an undetermined length. http://www.collegehockeynews.com/news/2015/12/21_bus_roberto_suspended_for.php
- A Wisconsin recruit switched to DU. http://www.sbncollegehockey.com/college-hockey-recruiting-ncaa/2015/12/3/9846430/kohen-olischefski-decommits-from-wisconsin-commits-to-Denver
- Earlier this month Tyler Bozak returned to Denver with the Maple Leafs and delivered a hat trick against the hometown Avs. http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nhl/2015/12/21/bozaks-hat-trick-in-3rd-leads-leafs-past-avalanche-7-4/77734488/
- CC is in the news. The Tiger's Trey Bradley delivered an illegal hit on an Alabama-Huntsville player and will be taking a 2-game break. http://www.uscho.com/2015/12/22/nchc-issues-two-game-suspension-to-colorado-colleges-trey-bradley-after-illegal-hit-at-alabama-huntsville/
- No DU players were named to the USA Worlds Junior Roster which included a dozen collegiate players. BU had three players and North Dakota had two. http://www.uscho.com/2015/12/23/final-team-usa-world-junior-roster-has-12-ncaa-connections/
- The UND Fighting Hawks new logo design is already generating parodies. Some of these designs are sure to draw the attention of UND's legal department. http://www.grandforksherald.com/news/local/3911648-another-designer-puts-spin-und-logo-controversy
Nine Days in January
While the Summit League my be a free-for-all this year, no team has a tougher opening stretch than the Pioneers. DU will get the Summit League preseason poll 1-2-3-4 punch in the first nine days of January. The first two games are on the road, Brookings & Fargo, and the next two games are in Denver. A 2-2 split would be an excellent start to league play. Anything better than that and the Pioneers would have to be considered the biggest league surprise. All in nine days. It won't take long to get a sense of how well DU matches up against the league's best.
2Q Hoops Report Card Shows Hope & Concern
DU finished the second quarter of their basketball season, 3-3. All six games were against non-conference opponents. During that stretch, DU averaged 63 points per game while their opponents scored 65.4, a -2.4 margin.
Second Half Skid Dooms DU vs. UC Riverside (54-63)
Looking for Hope Only Requires a Short Memory
7-7-2. That is not supposed to be the record of this year's Pioneer hockey team at the break. They are loaded at forward, came into the season with two solid goaltenders, and promised to play all 200 feet of the ice - playing relentless Pioneer Hockey.
'Power Five' Membership no Guarantee
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The Washington Post in an article, Playing in the Red, featured 28 schools in the 'Power Five' Conferences (Pac 12, SEC, ACC, Big 12, Big 10) that are hemorrhaging cash in their athletic departments. Among those losers - CU, Louisville, UCLA, Wisconsin, Cal, & Florida State. The issue is not revenue as each of the schools receive a huge influx of cash but, rather, an increasing outflow of cash, especially to support football and related facilities.
Denver (8-4) falls to Eastern Washington University (6-6)
The good news, Denver held all but three Eastern Washington University players to a total of 2 points. The bad news, the other three players scored 72 of the Eagles 74 points.
Volleyball: Can DU take it to the Next Level?
Last night, Nebraska swept Texas 3-0 in front of 17,561 to win the NCAA volleyball national championship. Some day, could it be DU?
As crazy as it sounds, volleyball is a sport that DU could be a national player, with a focus on recruiting, strong coaching, and a dash of good fortune (i.e. luck).
DU Announces Volleyball Shocker
In a surprising announcement, Jesse Mahoney (88-40) will be leaving DU's volleyball program after consecutive 27 win seasons, two Summit League tournament championships and two NCAA playoff appearances in four short years.
Denver (8-3) Hoops Stage Rally for Huge Road Win - 81-77
A resilient DU squad, trailing by 8 at halftime, rallied with an early 12 - 2 run to take a second half lead and hang on for a huge win against the University of Northern Colorado (UNC) Bears in Greeley. The DU team, playing with growing confidence and strong veteran leadership from Rucker, Pemberton, Engesser and Byrd kept their composure, upped the defensive pressure, and ran their offense with precision in reeling off their third straight road win against an underrated UNC team.
Top-Tier Locker Room Needed for Premier Hockey Program
Photo: New 3.5 million dollar Miami Redhawk Locker Room
While DU fans are rightfully proud of Magness Arena, the reality is that some of DU's facilities haven fallen behind peers. Many of the locker rooms at Ritchie Center were redone with insurance monies as a result of flooding over the summer. Others, such as men's lacrosse, were expanded to accommodate the basic needs of a growing program that weren't being met with the older facilities.
Stoppers
DU hoops 7-3 start is unexpected and a primary reason for their success has been their ability to limit scoring, especially from opponents' big scorer(s). The list below shows the top scorer(s) for each team by this season-average versus their actual scoring totals against Denver. Of the 14 players listed, only one, Lipscomb's J.C. Hampton, scored above his average.
Team Player Season AVG. vs. DU
Milwaukee Akeem Springs 13.0 8
Matt Tiby 14.4 12
Santa Clara Jared Brownledge 18.0 7
Lipscomb J.C. Hampton 14.4 *21
Utah Valley Kenner Frey 16.5 15
Idaho State Ethan Telfair 14.0 12
Ali Faruq-Bey 16.9 18
Southern Alabama Ken Williams 15.1 12
Wyoming Josh Adams 24.9 19
Air Force Trevor Lyons 14.9 10
Hayden Graham 14.6 8
San Diego Duda Sanadze 13.2 6
Weber State Jeremy Senglin 20.7 14
Joel Bolomboy 17.3 14
AVERAGE 16.3 12.6
DU's average scoring margin (65.7) vs. competition (60.4) has been +5.3 points. More than half of that total margin, 3.6 points per game, came from shutting down the leading scorer on the opposing team. One of DU's key formulas to success has been sound defense against the top scoring threat(s) and they have been extremely successful at doing so.
This Wednesday night, DU will have their hands full in Greeley trying to stop FOUR legitimate scoring threats from University of Northern Colorado - Dallas Anglin 19.0, Cameron Michael 16.8, Anthony Johnson 15.8, and Jordan Wilson 15.0.
Winter Storm Hits Denver - Lax Around the Corner
Photo: The first big winter storm hits Denver.
Peter Barton Stadium is covered with a foot of snow but only 46 days to go until DU's first home faceoff January 30th against Johns Hopkins.
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