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Denver Pioneers Lacrosse – D1 Championship Bound

The Denver Pioneers Lacrosse team is headed to the D1 Championship Game after topping Notre Dame in overtime, 11-10, and game 1 of championship weekend was truly a pleasure to watch from start to finish. There were plenty of complainers (we’ll get to them later), but the game played out in an exciting fashion, and it delivered on all counts!

Denver put up two goals early, Notre Dame answered, and then the two teams traded goals back and forth for a number of ties and one goal leads. As predicted, both teams were surgical on offense, and valued possessions, playing conservative lacrosse. At the same time, the game was fast-paced, with plenty of turnovers, and it showed how evenly the two programs matched up.

Notre Dame’s defense seemed impenetrable at times, but Denver got a lot of consecutive possessions, and worked for great shots. This, along with consistent face off wins, allowed Denver to mount a solid run, and in the third quarter, the Pioneers spaced out their lead by 4 goals, and looked golden to run the game out, and keep it low-scoring.

Notre Dame, however, was not done, and they made minute but masterful changes to their game plan, which allowed them to get back into the game. Sergio Perkovic stepped up and dodged his way to 5 goals in the fourth quarter. His overhand shooting was accurate, and his form was perfect. The placement was also remarkable. I don’t know that we’ve ever seen a performance like that from one player in a single quarter. But there was more to Notre Dame’s run than the obvious Sergio factor.

Notre Dame also pulled their wings in from a new angle on face offs, and did a great job of disrupting Trevor Baptiste, when he gained possession. Notre Dame was able to get the ball back with this a couple of times, and it allowed the Irish the extra possessions they needed. When Denver did get the ball on offense, the Irish defense extended smartly, did not waste time or take foolish penalties, and they cleared the ball with more intensity.

When Wes Berg goes around the world five hole to go up 10-6, you’d think ND would be done. Their run, fueled, by Perkovic, was truly epic, and awesome to watch. Once the Irish run ended, both teams got chances to win it in regulation, but neither could muster a good enough shot to get a winner. In overtime, Denver did what Denver does, and the cycled the ball around until a great shot was open, and they took it. Game blouses.

Now, I need to talk about all the nonsense I was reading on Twitter about this being a boring game for all but the last 5 minutes. It was everywhere, and it even came from people who I respect, which is making me really doubt my decisions about these people and their lacrosse knowledge.

Yes, there were a LOT of turnovers in this game, especially for Notre Dame, especially early on. But that doesn’t make it a bad game, and it doesn’t make it boring. Yes, Denver is patient on offense, but that also doesn’t make it boring. And yes, it was a lower scoring game for a long while, but that ALSO doesn’t make it boring. This game was AWESOME! How can you not see that?

Notre Dame employed a ten-man ride at multiple points in the game. Both teams played excellent defense. WE SAW TAKEAWAY CHECKS! There were ground ball battles on top of ground battles. We got shots, we got hits, we got saves, and we got two teams playing GREAT team lacrosse. How is any of that boring?

If you called this game a “snoozer”, or poo-poo’d the turnovers, or talked about stall warnings vs goals as some sort of negative, go to your DVR, watch the game again, and then honestly tell me it wasn’t a great game of lacrosse between two smart, athletic, and hard working teams. If you do that, then I’ll know you don’t know what you’re talking about.

Shout out to Notre Dame and Denver for putting on a SHOW today. To those who thought it was boring, go watch baseball maybe? This was a really good lacrosse game. Check yourself! Also, check out the box score here.