by PHILADELPHIA (AP) – Denver won its first NCAA men’s lacrosse championship, beating Maryland 10-5 on Monday behind five goals from senior Wesley Berg.
Berg was chosen as the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player. He ended the season with a team-record 58 goals.
Denver has won its first national title in men’s lacrosse. The victory gave coach Bill Tierneyhis record seventh title. He won six with Princeton.
Zach Miller added a goal and two assists for Denver. The fourth-seeded Pioneers (17-2) beat top-seeded Notre Dame in overtime in the semifinals Saturday.
Maryland made its third appearance in the past five national title games.
Denver took a 4-1 lead in the first quarter as Berg scored the Pioneers’ first three goals.
Goalie Ryan LaPlante kept the Terrapins (15-4) at bay with six saves over the first two quarters.
Denver held a 5-3 lead at halftime. After an empty possession for the Terps to begin the third quarter, Miller recovered a rebound and sent a shot past Maryland goalie Kyle Bernlohr with 11:43 left in the period.
Miller’s first goal of the game set the tone for the rest of the half, and Denver’s defense continued to frustrate Maryland.
Just over three minutes later, Colin Woolford scored his 10th goal of the season for the Pioneers.
Berg scored on an assist from Miller for an 8-3 lead.
Maryland entered the game with a 4-0 record against Denver all-time. But the Terps have struggled offensively this season and again had trouble scoring.
2015 NCAA All-Tournament Team
John Crawley, Johns Hopkins
Sergio Perkovic, Notre Dame
Matt Rambo, Maryland
Kyle Bernlohr, Maryland
Matt Neufeldt, Maryland
Ryan LaPlante, Denver
Zach Miller, Denver
Trevor Baptiste, Denver
Mike Riis, Denver
Notes:
– Bill Tierney is now 355-118 all-time (31st season) and 83-25 at DU (sixth season).
– Tierney also became the first Division I men’s lacrosse coach to win a national title at two different schools
– Denver is 11-7 in its NCAA Tournament history.
– Wes Berg increased his team-leading active-point streak to 38 games (entered today 9th in nation)
– With five goals today, Berg now has 39 career NCAA Tournament goals, the second-most in NCAA history.
– With five goals today, Berg also moved into seventh in NCAA history in career goals with 188.
– Zach Miller increased his point streak to 37 games (entered week 11th in the nation). Miller has tallied at least one point in every collegiate game. – Denver is now 38-9 as a top-5 team, including 8-2 as the No. 3 team.
