For a distinguished NCAA lacrosse coach with a career record of 278-97, 6-4 isn’t bad.
Bill Tierney expected a rocky road in his first season at the University of Denver, originally inheriting only 12 players who finished last season under the troubled previous regime.
But 10 games into this 16-game season, Tierney has the Pioneers pointed in a positive direction — maybe even NCAA Tournament contention, an area in which Tierney is an expert.
Since beginning 1-3, including blowout road losses at Syracuse and Notre Dame, DU has won five of its past six games, including three straight.
“At 6-4, I could have dreamed better, but we’re learning, we’re on a roll and the guys are starting to buy in and do good things,” said Tierney, who guided Princeton to six NCAA championships and 10 Final Four appearances in 22 years.
“At the beginning of the year, it was two steps back, one step forward. Now its two steps forward, one step back.”
The Pioneers, led by sophomore attack Alex Demopoulos (20 goals), senior defender Dillon Roy (46 groundballs) and senior goalkeeper Peter Lowell (.484 save percentage), won their inaugural game in the Eastern College Athletic Conference Saturday, beating Hobart 17-13 at home. They host Bellarmine (6-4, 0-2 ECAC) tonight and Quinnipiac (4-3, 1-2) on Sunday morning before visiting Ohio State (5-5, 1-2) on April 17.
Ensuing games at 14th-ranked Fairfield on April 24 and against No. 9 Loyola (Md.) on May 2 could dictate whether DU watches or plays in the 16-team NCAA Tournament.
The ECAC champion has an automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament.
“We can beat anybody, but we can also lose to anybody, very easily,” Tierney said. “We’re over halfway through, but really at a new beginning with the league thing. It’s almost like the first part was a dress rehearsal. Get stomped on, learn from that. Give up a lead, learn from that. Win a big one, learn from that. Lose a tight one, learn from that. And then we’re on this roll, and hopefully we’ll learn from that.”
Tierney was hired last June, and his first recruiting class won’t join the program until this fall. He is using 23 players from DU’s previous team, coached by Jamie Munro, plus 13 freshmen — all recruited by Munro’s staff.
Tierney persuaded eight players who quit the program a year ago to return, and negotiated the return of three others who were dismissed by the school.
“We’re a lot more disciplined,” Tierney said when asked of the most noticeable change he has seen from his players. “We’re more regimented in practice, and we expect them to act the same, look the same and go to class.”
Roy, the captain from Denver East High, was among the eight players recruited back to DU.
“The biggest difference I’ve seen is people are holding themselves accountable,” Roy said. “And everyone wants to be here.”
Mike Chambers: 303-954-1357 or mchambers@denverpost.com
