US Lacrosse Magazine released the Nike/US Lacrosse Division I Women’s Preseason Top 20 on Jan. 2. Team-by-team previews will be unveiled on uslaxmagazine.com through the end of the month and will also appear as part of the magazine’s NCAA preview edition in February. 

Don’t get the mag? Join US Lacrosse today to start your subscription .

No. 20 Denver

2018 Record: 13-7 (6-3 Big East)
Coach: Liza Kelly (13th year)

All-Time Record: 211-141
NCAA Appearances: 3
Final Fours: 0
Championships: 0

Denver usually likes to play up being an underdog, but that will be tougher to sell this year.

The Pioneers graduated only one starter after winning 13 games, reaching the Big East championship and crushing High Point in the NCAA tournament opener. They feel like they have more to prove. 

 “Our fight is a strength,” Kelly said. “We always feel like the little dog in the big dog fight. We play it up, and we’ll take it. We’re gritty. We’ll give you a battle until the last whistle blows and then maybe a little push after.”

Denver boasts strong senior leader Julia Feiss, playmaker Kendra Lanuza, defenders Katherine Fischer and first-team All-Big East selection Kennedy Milburn, junior goalie Carson Gregg and draw specialist Maddie Baum. The Pioneers have 10 seniors on this year’s roster.

“They’ve played together for a while,” Kelly said. “The senior class was a strong class for us for the three previous years so they have a lot of experience with each other. I hope that will help them with their leadership as well.”

Just as inspiring is the return of a large sophomore class that played extensively last year, led by Big East Co-Freshman of the Year Quintin Hoch-Bullen, who topped the Pioneers in points.

“At any given time, we had six freshmen on the field last year,” Kelly said. “Quintin got a lot of the credit toward the end of the year with awards, but I think it was a pretty shared load. They’re a very balanced group. Being able to come in as freshmen and have upperclassmen to take some of the top defenders away helped her and all of them. I think it’s a pretty balanced attack. I think if you try to pay too much attention to one person, someone else can step up.”

The returning experience gives the Pioneers a better starting point than last year. They could finish higher too, if they can put everything together end-to-end.

“We just need to be more balanced,” Kelly said. “We had too many games last year where one end would dominate. I felt like we didn’t really put together our offense, defense and draw team all on the same day. We need to be able to put up more points against top teams. When it gets hard, we need to find a way to score.”

The Case For Denver

Denver has experienced players that should make both ends of the field stronger, particularly the offense under second-year coordinator Tee Ladouceor.

“Her plays are very different than Matt Lawicki’s plays,” Kelly said. “It really took an adjustment for everybody to get used to each other. After having a year of understanding what those expectations are at the offensive end, that’ll really help.”

At the other end, a veteran defense will be more versatile than a year ago. The Pioneers expect to throw more looks at opponents.

“Last year, we had a pretty young defense,” Kelly said. “We really focused on our zones. It’ll be nice to have a little older defense now and put some different things in.”

The Case Against Denver

Denver has done well overall with 27 wins in the last two years, but the Pioneers have struggled to compete against the higher echelon teams in their conference and the country. Stony Brook, Virginia Tech and Florida beat the Pioneers by a combined 37 goals over four games last year. 

The Pioneers have to show they can play consistently against their toughest foes. They need to duplicate the sort of efforts that enabled them to beat Stanford and a top-15 Colorado team last year, and play Maryland within two goals in the first half of their NCAA second-round game.

Path to the Playoffs

The Big East opened up with the move of four-time defending champion Florida, and Denver will vie for the conference title with Georgetown. The two meet April 6 at Georgetown.

“Georgetown will be at full strength,” Kelly said. “I think they were hurting a little bit when they got to playoffs last year with injuries. They’re a very good team.”

Denver can tune up for the conference with games against Stanford, Louisville, Stony Brook, Vanderbilt, Virginia Tech and Colorado.

“We’ve got a great schedule,” Kelly said. “We start on the road and play Stanford in our opening game. From the get-go, we’re challenging ourselves, both in-region and out-of-region.”

Players To Watch

Julia Feiss, A., Sr.
45 G, 10 A

The leading goal scorer for the Pioneers in each of the last two seasons, Feiss returns after garnering first-team all-Big East honors. Feiss will draw greater attention from opposing defenses which should open scoring opportunities for teammates in Denver's attack.

Quintin Hoch-Bullen, A., So.
41 G, 18 A

The co-freshman of the year in the Big East last year gives the Pioneers another big weapon on offense as a finisher and playmaker. Hoch-Bullen was the leading scorer in her first season and should be even more dangerous in her second year.

Kennedy Milburn, D, Sr.
42 GB, 21 CT

Milburn has made strides every season. She more than doubled her ground balls last year and finished one caused turnovers shy of the team lead. The most experienced of Denver’s defenders, she will be starting for a fourth straight year and providing the Pioneers a reliable veteran presence.

National Rankings

Category	Rank	Value
Offense	57th	11.9 GPG
Defense	20th	10.15 GAA
Draws	77th	12.05/game
Ground Balls	75th	17.2/game
Caused TO	40th	9.05/game
Shooting	76th	39.5%
FP Shooting	48th	42.5%
Yellow Cards	2nd	53

Power Ratings (Scale of 1-5)

Offense
⭐⭐⭐

Defense
⭐⭐⭐⭐

Goalkeeping
⭐⭐⭐

Draw
⭐⭐

.395

Denver’s shooting accuracy will need to improve after a 10-year low in 2018. Only Fairfield (.393) and Johns Hopkins (.377) in the NCAA tournament had lower shooting percentages. History is on the Pioneers’ side. They shot below 42 percent only once since 2009, in 2011 when they shot .396.

5-Year Trend
Yellow Cards

Year	Rank	Per Season
2014	67th	21
2015	20th	30
2016	2nd	51
2017	11th	40
2018	2nd	53

Coach Confidential
Liza Kelly

“I think we need to be swaggier. We really work hard. We grind. Our team is gritty. I think we’ve been a team that other people don’t like to play because we don’t give up and fight to the end. We’ve always sort of thrived with this chip on our shoulder. At some point, we have to get past the chip and get to the swag.”

Enemy Lines

“Solid returning group, starting with the goalie.”

"Didn't lose much from last semester. They will continue to rise and compete."

"I feel like this Denver team has been building the last three years and this is now their fourth year with a lot of the same players playing and leading that team. I think they will be a great team."