2023 Men's Top 30: How Denver Fared vs. Projections

Before USA Lacrosse Magazine looks ahead to what’s to come in 2024, our team of staff and contributors decided it was worth taking one last look at 2023.

After all, you have to look at the most recent results before making projections for what’s to come. To do that, we’re taking a journey through the top 30 teams in men’s and women’s lacrosse — what went right, what went wrong and what we should all think of that team’s season.

Was it a success? A failure? A mixture of both? You’ll find out our thoughts over the next month or so.

DENVER MEN’S LACROSSE

Nike/USA Lacrosse Preseason/Final Top 20 Ranking: 13/14
2023 record: 10-5 (4-1 Big East)

WHAT WENT RIGHT

JJ Sillstrop (36 G, 5 A) paced an offense with five 30-point scorers and six players with at least 14 goals. Alec Stathakis won 60.4 percent of his faceoffs. The Pioneers’ top-level players stayed healthy (nine guys drew at least 14 starts). And Denver went 5-0 at home in coach Bill Tierney’s final season.

WHAT WENT WRONG

The Pioneers never found an answer for Georgetown, dropping two games to the Hoyas (including the Big East final) by a combined 27-11 margin. Other problems were out of their control. Early victories over North Carolina and Ohio State declined in value as the year unfolded, and surprise conference tournament titles for Michigan and Princeton left Denver as the team just on the outside of the NCAA tournament field.

SEASON HIGHLIGHT

Administering a 12-6 thumping of Villanova on Bill Tierney Day on April 8. It doubled as arguably the Pioneers’ best regular-season performance and ensured the festivities celebrating Tierney’s career later in the day didn’t unfold awkwardly after a loss.

VERDICT

Denver improved its record by a game, and it was playing as well as it had all season (with six victories in a row) before its Big East title game loss to Georgetown in Milwaukee. The year itself was largely in line with external preseason expectations, and it looks like there is a solid base for newly promoted coach Matt Brown to build on in 2024.