Photos: PioNation On The Road In Philadelphia

(above) Boone before the game

(above) DU lacrosse alum Mark Matthews & Boone at the tailgate

(Above)  Cheesesteaks for breakfast at Pat's

(above) Lots of facetime for Boone on ESPN2

(Above) Mega-Boone at Lincoln Financial Field

(above) DU fans on the jumbotron in Philadelphia

(above) DU's tailgate drew around 1,000 supporters

(above) Capital One's new spokesman - "Boone's in your wallet"

News & Notes From Around PioNation

Add the Denver Post's Woody Paige to the growing chorus that wants George Gwozdecky to be the next coach of the Colorado Avalanche.

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DU alum Mark Matthews of the NLL's Edmonton Rush was named Rookie of the Year of the Indoor lacrosse league.  Matthews was 5th in the league in scoring.

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Incoming University of Denver coach Jim Montgomery led the Dubuque Saints to two wins over the weekend to grab a 2-0 lead in the best of five series against the Fargo Force.

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After upsetting the University of Florida on Friday, the DU men's tennis team lost to the University of California 4-1 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

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The University of Denver women's lacrosse team also advanced to the second round of the NCAA women's Lacrosse Tournament before falling to Florida 16-5.

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DU alum Anthony Maiani, a member of the Allen Americans, won their first CHL Presidents Cup Championship, 3-2 in overtime on Saturday night.

Fans Vote Mathews' Lax Video "Goal Of The Year"

From: Inside Lacrosse

Mark Matthews has been tearing up the ESPN Top 10 and ILTV all season. It seems every game the Canadian is scoring an out-of-this-world goal, whether it was during his senior year at Denver or his MLL season with the Outlaws.

And in the 2012 Laxies, Matthews' catch-and-spin goal earned him the fan vote.

Part of a frantic second-half NCAA Quarterfinal comeback attempt vs. Loyola, the Denver attack man caught a clearing pass with a defender draped on him and finished a turning shot in one motion. It earned him SportsCenter's No. 6 play.

Matthews won a tight race, which featured John Grant, Reid Action, Zach Palmer and Ned Crotty.

Magazine Featuring DU Lax Star Nominated

(above) DU alum Mark Matthews was featured on the cover of the October, 2011 issue of Inside Lacrosse Magazine

Inside Lacrosse Magazine featuring DU star Mark Matthews on the cover has been named a finalist in the “Best Full Issue: Consumer Sports” category of the prestigious Folio Eddie Awards, given out annually to the best in the magazine publishing industry.

IL’s October, 2011 issue is one of three finalists, alongside Field and Stream and Canoe and Kayak magazines.

Denver’s Mark Matthews appeared on the cover (photo by Martin Allinson, design by Art Director Matt Cain) of that October, 2011 issue, and the magazine included feature stories on Matthews (by Damian Andrew), the rise of Canadians in NCAA lacrosse (Casey Vock), a fallball package (IL staff), MLL survey and recap (Terry Foy and Kyle Devitte) and a recap of Ryan Rabidou’s trip to Cuba to help spread lacrosse to the Communist country.

Mark Matthews Makes ESPN's Top 10 Plays

 (above) DU alum Mark Matthews' goal for the Denver Outlaws made ESPN's Top 10 Plays of the Day on Saturday night

News & Notes From Around PioNation

(above) DU alum Mark Matthews was named Player of the Game in his professional debut on Saturday night

The Washington Times projects that the University of Denver Lacrosse team will be #10 next season in the first Poll released for next season.  They list several reasons for DU's rankings.

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Mark Matthews scored four goals for the Denver Outlaws on Saturday night. Matthews was drafted by the Outlaws and appeared in his MLL debut. He added two assists. With these impressive stats Matthews earned himself player of the game in his professional outdoor lacrosse debut.

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DU lacrosse recruit Jake Woodring [Eden Prarie, MN] was named one of the Top 40 high school junior lacrosse players in the country.

Video: Mark Matthews 2012 Highlight Mix

(above) The jaw dropping, incredible, amazing Mark Matthews

2012 Lacrosse All-Americans Named

University of Denver lacrosse players were recognized by Inside Lacrosse today.

Mark Matthews and Chase Carraro were named 2nd Team All-American, Jeremy Noble was named 3rd Team All-American and Cam Flint was named Honorable Mention today by Inside Lacrosse.

Matthews' Goal Makes ESPN's Top 10

Mark Matthews To Begin Pro Career ASAP

From:  Mile High Sports Daily

Senior Mark Matthews departs the University of Denver as the school’s all-time leading scorer with 155 goals and 216 points; a career best 47 of those goals came in 2012. He will go down as one of DU's greatest if not the greatest lacrosse players to wear Crimson & Gold.

The professional Denver Outlaws must think Matthews could be one of the missing pieces to a championship formula, as they traded All-Star midfielder Max Seibald for the draft pick that was used to select Matthews. Following the draft, general manager Tony Seaman said, “We are very excited about Matthews and his potential in the MLL. It (will) be great to have a local player moving on to play professionally."

He is expected to make his professional debut on June 2 in Denver against the Chesapeake Bayhawks [read entire article].

NCAA Tourney: DU 16 - North Carolina 14

Denver Post Game Recap
 

Lax Power Game Recap

Box Score

“When Matt Brown read off the list of offenses we were going to play tonight, I got tired listening. I think there were 17. By mixing it up, we felt like we could keep their defenders on their heels a little bit.” 

- DU Head Coach Bill Tierney

The University of Denver came from behind to secure a thrilling 16-14 victory over #8 ranked University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill on Saturday night.

Jeremy Noble was the player of the game with three goals and 10 points. Mark Matthews had five goals & Wes Berg each picked up a hat trick.

Chase Carraro won 23 of 31 face-offs in advancing to face top-seeded Loyola next weekend in the quarterfinals

DU Thumps Duke At Mile High Stadium

Denver Post Game Recap

University of Denver senior Mark Matthews tallied five goals and added two assists and freshman goalie Ryan LaPlante made 16 saves to lead the 16th-ranked Pioneers to a 15-9 win over No. 3 Duke in men's lacrosse action this evening in front of 12,282 fans at Sports Authority Field at Mile High. Denver outscored the Blue Devils 9-4 in the second half to secure the victory. 

The loss snapped Duke's win streak at 10 games and is the Blue Devils' first loss since March 10. Duke is now 13-4 overall, while Denver improves to 8-5 for the season. Duke twice attempted to mount a comeback, but could never take the lead against the Pioneers. 

"We knew it was going to be difficult to come out here and play," head coach John Danowski said. "We've traveled for the past three weekends now and classes ended this week and we understood it was going to be a challenge. With that being said, Denver was great today and deserved to win. They were the better team. It was great for our guys to play in a hostile environment and this was a good one for us. You don't always win with a win and hopefully we learn from this one."

NY Times: Scoring Woes Plague DU Lacrosse

“I don’t believe in luck. I just believe in preparation. So we’ll keep preparing these guys the best we can.”

-Bill Tierney

From: NY Times Blog
by Anna Gauldin

Despite an 8-7 lead with only 19 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, the #10 Pioneers lost 9-8 in overtime to then #17 Fairfield on Saturday afternoon at Lessing Field in Connecticut. With the loss, Denver dropped to 7-5 over all and 3-3 in the E.C.A.C., clinching the No. 4 seed in the conference tournament thanks to Air Force’s 14-4 loss to Ohio State over the weekend.

The Pioneers fell to No. 16 the national rankings after posting their third one-goal, overtime loss of the season, logging a 0-3 record outside of regulation play [read entire article].

Inside Lacrosse: Matthews P.O.Y. Contender

(above) DU's Mark Matthews is a contender for the Tewaaraton Award

In the last update of the NCAA Lacrosse Player of the Year Watch, Tewaaraton Selection Committee vice chair Tony Seaman addressed the race for the Tewaaraton Award. University of Denver star Mark Matthews was listed as #6 on Inside Lacrosse's list.

6. Mark Matthews, Sr., A, Denver (30G, 13A in 10 games) Matthews has been good, but as Denver's topsy-turvy season moves toward a crescendo, he'll likely have to be great.

DU Lacrosse Teams Sweep Over The Weekend

DU Women's Lacrosse

The University of Denver Women's Lacrosse team defeated Stanford 12-9 on Saturday afternoon. DU Sophomore Jenn Etzel scored twice and had two assists and junior Mikayla Clark added a hat trick to  on Senior Day at Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

"This was a very exciting win for us. Stanford has been one of our top conference opponents for seven years running, so it was a great win," head coach Liza Kelly said. "The girls really made an effort to play hard for our seniors, and I think they did that."

DU Men's Lacrosse

Led by a season-high six points from senior Mark Matthews on five goals and one assist the #9 University of Denver men's lacrosse team defeated Bellarmine University 12-6 on Friday evening at Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium. 

"Overall the effort was there," said head coach Bill Tierney. "We didn't finish well early when we had some chances and then they got the ball in their hands and it turned into a wild game. When it came back to 7-6 I thought our guys really showed some fortitude, stood up and scored five straight goals for the win."

DU Lacrosse 15 - Hobart 8 FINAL

From: LaxPower

Denver junior midfielder and face-off specialist Chase Carraro led the way with a 22 of 23 face-off performance to help the 10th-ranked University of Denver to a 15-8 victory over Hobart on Saturday in front of a standing room only crowd of 2,131 at Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium.

“We knew it was going to be a tough game with Hobart because they have a very unique offense and we saw it in the first half,” said head coach Bill Tierney. “They have a couple of really good players that kind of confused us. We probably over coached them and when we finally settled down on defense we settled down our offense. Us winning 22 of 23 face-offs is unheard of and I'm proud of our face-off group's effort. Overall a good solid win.”

The Pioneers (6-3, 2-1 ECAC) got four goals and an assist from senior attackman Mark Matthews, who posted his 25th career-hat trick. Also contributing for Denver was freshman Wes Berg as he finished with three goals and an assist, while sophomore midfielder Jeremy Noble finished with two goals and an assist.

Denver remained perfect at home this season, and extended its home winning streak to nine games.

The Pioneers continue their home stand against Bellarmine on Friday, April 6 at 7:00 PM MT.

DU Pounds Penn State In Lacrosse

The University of Denver men's lacrosse team defeated #10 Penn State 14-6 in State College, Pa., on Saturday afternoon. Led by a five-point outing from senior Mark Matthews the Pioneers improved to 4-1 on the season, while the Nittany Lions fall to 3-2.

DenverPioneers.com Game Recap

DU Lacrosse 17 - Michigan 5 FINAL

"It was great to look up in the stands and see our fans coming out here. It was a great atmosphere."

DU Coach Bill Tierney

"Obviously, Denver is an elite team and an elite program. In a lot of ways they are what we want to become."

Michigan Head Coach John Paul

From: MGoBlue.com

The University of Denver defeated Michigan on a glorious Spring afternoon at Barton Stadium, 17-5. There wasn't an empty seat in the house and the overflow crowd was treated to a clinical display of offensive lacrosse.  The Pioneers controlled the flow of the game thanks to their prowess at face-offs, winning 19 of 26 draws, and collecting 43 ground balls to U-M's 23.

DU won the opening faceoff and scored 42 seconds in. DU led 2-0 three minutes into the first quarter and 5-1 after 15 minutes. Denver had a 4-2 scoring advantage in the second stanza to earn a 9-3 halftime advantage. DU's lead ballooned to 15-5 after three quarters and it tacked on two more late goals.

Denver's Eric Law led all players with four goals, while Mark Matthews and Alex Demopoulos had three apiece.

Denver jumped ahead early with goals at 14:18 and 12:01 of the first quarter. Michigan bounced a shot through the DU goalie's five-hole at 7:45 to make it 2-1. The Pioneers responded just 42 seconds later and poured in two more goals in the final minute of the first quarter.

The Pioneers and Wolverines traded goals throughout the second quarter until Denver finished the frame with back-to-back goals for a 9-3 halftime lead.

Denver made it a four-goal run with two tallies to begin the second half. Bryant's second goal of the day made it 11-4. DU deposited four straight goals to take a double-digit lead, 15-4. Chu scored on a pass that ricocheted into the Denver goal to cap U-M's scoring with eight seconds left in the third quarter.

The fourth quarter was scoreless until DU tallied two late goals.

Denver Post Game Recap

Boxscore

Denver Post Profiles DU Lax Player Mark Matthews

(above) Mark Matthews will try to lead DU to the Promised Land this season

From: Denver Post
by Nick Groke

Mark Matthews could be excused for feeling full of himself after his scoring prowess last season led the University of Denver lacrosse team's shocking run to the NCAA semifinals.

But if he starts getting too comfortable as a star, DU coach Bill Tierney has a plan.

"If his head gets too big, I call his mom," said Tierney, the third-year Pioneers coach. "He's deathly afraid of his mother" [read entire article].

Exhibition: US National Team 16 - DU Lax 15 OT

(above) Jamie Faus made 14 saves on Sunday

From: In Lax We Trust

by D. Shirley

The #5 ranked University of Denver traveled to Orlando, FL. to take on Team USA as part of the US Lacrosse Champion Challenge.  Team USA, the reigning world champions, prevailed in overtime 16-15, but the Pioneers put up one heck of a battle against some of the best professional players in the world.

Mark Mathews was in mid-season form scoring four goals and four assists to lead all players.  The DU Senior is expected to contend for the Tewaaraton Award given to the best NCAA player this season.

The US came out and quickly scored but Denver went on a three goal run behind Eric Law and Mark Matthews. Matthews assisted both of Law's goals and added one of his own. Denver was moving the ball well on offense. Advancement from the back line and movement of players up front is what allowed Denver score.

Team USA then put on an exhibition of their speed and size and quickly took the lead back. Chazz Woodson scored a couple of goals right before half to give the Americans a 9-7 lead going into the break.

Denver slightly outplaying the US in the second half & tied the game at 15 with 2:22 left in regulation. In overtime, both teams found the pipes once but the game winner came off of a rebounded shot that Jamie Faus couldn't contain and Kevin Leveille sent it to the back of the net for a Team USA victory, 16-15.