Saturday, May 10, 2008
No. 18 Denver vs. No. 7 Maryland, 10 a.m. MT
Chevy Chase Bank Field at Byrd Stadium
College Park, Md.
Live stats: www.DenverPioneers.com
Television: ESPNU

Game Overview
Denver is making its second NCAA Tournament appearance and its first since 2006, when it fell to No. 6-seeded Maryland, 16-8. Maryland has made 31 appearances in the NCAA Tournament and has won two titles. The Pioneers (10-6) earned an at-large bid to the 2008 Tournament, despite losing to Ohio State 15-8 in the semifinals of the Great Western Lacrosse League tournament. DU has won seven of its last nine games. The Terps (9-5) were also awarded one of nine at-large bids to the tournament and are coming off of a 16-10 win over Yale on Saturday.

The Series vs. the Terps
This is the fourth meeting between the two clubs and the second in postseason play. Denver trails Maryland 0-3 in the series. The last meeting between the two teams saw the Terrapins defeat the Pioneers 16-8 in the first round of the 2006 NCAA Tournament.
DU is 0-1 at home against the Terps and 0-2 in College Park, Md.

Rookie Leader
Freshman Jamie Lincoln (St. Cathariens, Ontario) leads the Pioneers with 47 goals and 51 points. The attackman set DU records for goals scored by a freshman and most goals in a season since turning Division I. Lincoln has recorded three or more goals in each of Denver’s last eight games.

The Assist Goes to…
Sophomore Charley Dickenson (Dallas, Texas) is the team’s assist leader with 19 assists on the season, part of 27 points on the year. Dickenson had six assists in all of the 2007 season.

National Tournament Experience
Nine current Pioneers have NCAA Tournament experience. When DU faced Maryland in the 2006 Tournament, a trio of current Pioneers tallied points. Junior Joey Murray (Denver, Colo.) had two goals, senior co-captain Brett Koll (Fort Collins, Colo.) had a goal and an assist, and junior Brad Richardson (Langley, B.C.) had a goal.

Transfer Contribution
All four transfers in Denver’s 2008 lineup have contributed significantly. Three of the four transfers came to DU as a result of Butler dropping its lacrosse program at the outset of the 2007 season. The former Bulldogs competing for the Pioneers are co-captain Carlos Navarro (Dallas, Texas), Mike Anderson (Louisville, Ky.), and Cliff Smith (Surrey, B.C.). Denver has also used the services of Dustin Palmer (Centennial, Colo.), who transferred to DU after three years at Syracuse.

Canadian Connection
The Pioneers have four Canadians on their 2008 roster in Cliff Smith, Jamie Lincoln, Ilija Gajic (Burnaby, B.C.) and Brad Richardson. Assistant coach Matt Brown hails from Burnaby, B.C. as well.

Getting on the Board…Quickly
Senior Jon Paulson (Flemington, N.J.) recorded a goal just 13 seconds into DU’s game against Bellarmine, marking the 10th fastest goal scored in NCAA Division I history.

GWLL Honors
Six Pioneers earned GWLL honors, led by Jamie Lincoln, who was named the GWLL Newcomer of the Year. Sophomore defender Dillon Roy (Denver, Colo.), who has 19 caused turnovers and leads the Pioneers with 14 penalties this season, joined Lincoln on the all-GWLL first team. DU’s second leading scorer Cliff Smith earned second-team honors at attack, while Ilija Gajic and Joey Murray earned all-GWLL honors for the second consecutive season, this year the duo was named to the second team at midfield. Freshman Brendan Deblois (Narragansett, R.I.) was also named all-GWLL second team at defense.

Fourth Quarter Magic
Denver has scored 56 goals in the fourth quarter this season, 14 more goals than their next highest period output. DU has allowed just 35 fourth quarter goals.

National Exposure
DU ranks in the top-20 in five of the seven NCAA categories. Denver is ranked in scoring offense (ninth-11.25 goals per game), man-down defense (13th-76.7%), win percentage (17th-62.5%), face-off win percentage (18th-52.4%), and scoring margin (20th-1.25). Five Pioneers are individually ranked in the top-50, with two in the top-10. Jamie Lincoln is fifth in the nation with 2.94 goals per game, and sophomore Ben Wahler (Denver, Colo.) is second with 6.56 ground balls per game.

Game Winners
The Pioneers have received game-winning goals from six different players this season. Cliff Smith leads the team with three, while Charley Dickenson and Ilija Gajic have two apiece. Seniors Brett Koll and Andrew Bourke (Denver, Colo.) each have one.

Overtime Thrillers
DU is 2-0 in overtime games this season after the 10-9 win over Harvard on March 29, when Cliff Smith recorded the game-winner with 1:03 remaining in the overtime period. Brett Koll scored the game-winner against Penn on March 9.

Top-10 Opponents
Denver is 1-2 against top-10 ranked opponents this season, defeating then-No. 7 Notre Dame, and losing to then-No. 9 North Carolina and then-No. 7 Cornell.

DU men’s lacrosse advances to first tournament since 2006

DENVER – The No. 19 University of Denver men’s lacrosse team was selected to the 2008 NCAA Tournament to face No. 7-seeded Maryland at Chevy Chase Bank Field at Byrd Stadium on Saturday, May 10 at 10 a.m. The game will be televised live on ESPNU.

“We had three quality during the season that propelled us into the postseason,” associated head coach Jon Torpey. “We didn’t play as well as we wanted in the GWLL tournament but during the regular season we played a hard scheduled. Those wins carried us through and we are headed back to the tournament.”

DU (10-6) is making its second NCAA Tournament, its first since 2006, when it fell to No. 6-seeded Maryland, 16-8. Maryland has made 31 appearances in the NCAA Tournament.

Denver earned an at-large bid to the 2008 tournament, despite losing to Ohio State in the semifinals of the Great Western Lacrosse League tournament. DU shared the regular season GWLL title with Ohio State and Notre Dame, both of whom made the tournament.

The Terps (9-5) were awarded one of nine at-large bids to the tournament and are coming off of a 16-10 win over Yale on Saturday.
Tickets for the Maryland-Denver game can be purchased through the Maryland Ticket Office at 1-800-462-TERP (1-800-462-8377). Tickets prices are $10.00 for adults and $5.00 for students and seniors.

The winner of the Maryland/Denver game will meet the winner of the Virginia/UMBC first round game in the quarterfinals most likely on Saturday, May 17, at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Md.

Tournament Breakdown:
No. 1 Duke (ACC) vs. Loyola (ECAC AQ) - May 10, 2:30 p.m.
No. 8 Cornell (Ivy AQ) vs. Ohio State (GWLL) - May 10, 5 p.m.

No. 5 Johns Hopkins (Independent) vs. Hofstra (CAA AQ) - May 11, 2:30 p.m.
No. 4 North Carolina (ACC) vs. Navy (Patriot) - May 10, 7:30 p.m.

No. 3 Syracuse (Independent) vs. Canisius (MAAC AQ) - May 11, 7:30 p.m.
No. 6 Notre Dame vs. Colgate (Patriot AQ) - May 11, Noon

No. 7 Maryland (ACC) vs. Denver (GWLL) - May 10, Noon
No. 2 Virginia (ACC) vs. UMBC (America East AQ) - May 11, 5 p.m.

Tournament Teams By Conference:
ACC (4): Duke, North Carolina, Maryland, Virginia
America East (1): UMBC (AQ)
CAA (1): Hofstra (AQ)
ECAC (1): Loyola (AQ)
Ivy (1): Cornell (AQ)
Patriot League (2): Colgate (AQ), Navy
Great Western Lacrosse League (3): Notre Dame (AQ), Denver, Ohio State
Independent (2): Johns Hopkins, Syracuse
MAAC (1): Canisius (AQ)

INDIANAPOLIS – The Great Western Lacrosse League’s (GWLL) 2008 annual awards were announced today. Included in the announcement were the All-League First and Second Team as well as the individual awards: Newcomer of the Year, Player of the Year and Coach of the Year. For the second consecutive year, Notre Dame and Ohio State each had four athletes who earned First Team honors. The Buckeyes had eight overall players make one of the two teams, the highest such number for any GWLL team. Ohio State, Denver and Quinnipiac also had players represented in the individual awards.

More Details Here!

Friday, May 2, 2008
No. 19 Denver vs. No. 10 Ohio State, 5:30 p.m. MT
Seaholm High School Birmingham, Mich.

Game Overview
Denver earned the No. 2 in the GWLL Tournament and Ohio State received the No. 3 after the two teams split the GWLL regular season title three ways with Notre Dame. The winner of the DU-OSU semifinal will face the winner of the Notre Dame and Quinnipiac semifinal game, which will be played at 3 p.m. MT.

The Series vs. the Buckeyes
This is the 14th meeting between the two clubs and the first in postseason play. The Pioneers trail Ohio State 4-9 in the series. DU is 4-2 at home, and 0-7 in Columbus, but the two teams have never met on a neutral field. The two teams met two weeks ago with OSU winning 20-13 in front of an NCAA regular season record crowd of 29,601.

GWLL Newcomer of the Year
Freshman Jamie Lincoln (St. Cathariens, Ontario) was named the GWLL Newcomer of the Year. The attackman earned first team honors with his record-setting rookie campaign of 44 goals and 48 points. Lincoln has already set the DU Division I record for goals in a season.

GWLL Honors
Joining Lincoln on the first team was sophomore defender Dillon Roy (Denver, Colo.), who has 19 caused turnovers and leads the Pioneers with 14 penalties this season. Junior Cliff Smith (Surrey, B.C.) earned second-team honors at attack and is Denver’s second leading scorer with 24 goals and 35 points. Sophomore Ilija Gajic (Burnaby, B.C.) and junior Joey Murray (Denver, Colo.) earned all-GWLL honors for the second consecutive season, this year earning second team honors at midfield. Freshman Brendan Deblois (Narragansett, R.I.) was also named all-GWLL second team at defense.

Fourth Quarter Magic
Denver has scored 52 goals in the fourth quarter this season, 10 more goals than their next highest output at 42 in the third period. DU has allowed just 33 fourth quarter goals.

National Exposure
The Pioneers are ranked in the top-20 in five in seven of the NCAA categories. Denver is eighth in scoring offense, averaging 11.47 goals per game, win percentage (11th-66.7%), man-down defense (13th-76.7%), scoring margin (16th-1.8), and man-up offense (18-34.1%).

Individually, four pioneers are ranked in the top-50, led by Lincoln, who is fifth in the nation in goals per game (2.93) and 26th in points per game (3.20). Sophomore Ben Wahler (Denver, Colo.) ranks second nationally in ground balls per game (6.47) and 27th in face-off win percentage (53.2%). Junior Austin Konkel (Aurora, Colo.) and sophomore Charley Dickenson (Dallas, Texas) rank among the top-50, as well.

Game Winners
The Pioneers have gotten game-winning goals from six different players this season. Smith leads the team with three, while Charley Dickenson and Gajic have two apiece. Seniors Brett Koll (Fort Collins, Colo.) and Andrew Bourke (Denver, Colo.) each have one.

The Assist Goes to
Charley Dickenson is the team leader with 18 assists on the season, part of 25 points on the year. Dickenson had six assists in all of 2007. An additional trio of Pioneers have reached double figures in assists this year in Gajic (12), Murray (11) and Smith (11).

Overtime Thrillers
DU is 2-0 in overtime games this season after the 10-9 win over Harvard on March 29, when Smith recorded the game-winner with 1:03 remaining in the overtime period. Koll scored the game-winner against Penn on March 9.

Ranked Opponents
Denver is 2-4 against ranked opponents this season, defeating then-No. 16 Colgate and then-No. 7 Notre Dame, and losing to then-No. 9 North Carolina, then-No. 20 Towson, then-No. 7 Cornell and then-No. 11 Ohio State.

Amazing that this first year midfielder has not received this honor before. The St. Cathariens, Ontario native has taken the Great Western Lacrosse League by storm. On Saturday, he lit Air Force up for five goals, extending his Denver single season goal record to 44. Granted, Lincoln had extensive lacrosse experience prior to arriving at Denver (Minto Cup in Canada and is currently 21 years of age). However, scoring that many goals from the midfield while attracting long pole attention from the opposition since the early stages of the season is an insane feat for even a senior. Lincoln has a tremendous knack for scoring and is a tough player who is willing to sell-out to find the back of the net. Lincoln is certainly worthy of All-American this season.