DENVER – The University of Denver women's lacrosse team will play nine of 17 games at Barton Lacrosse Stadium in addition to hosting the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Tournament, DU head coach Liza Kelly announced today.

Denver will face four of the nation's top ranked teams from last season: North Carolina (fourth in the NCAA in 2009), Duke (fifth), Stanford (13th) and Loyola (18th). Additionally, the winner of the MPSF Tournament in Denver will face the Atlantic-10 champion for a berth in the NCAA Tournament.

"We have created a challenging schedule that should help our young team develop as we head into the MPSF Tournament," Kelly said.

The Pioneers open the season with four straight on the road, beginning at St. Mary's (Jan. 29) and in Berkeley, Calif., for Cal-Play Day (Jan. 31).

Denver then takes on two of the nation's toughest teams when DU heads to Duke (Feb. 12), which finished fifth last season after falling in an overtime thriller to Penn in the NCAA Tournament Quarterfinals, and the University of North Carolina (Feb. 14), which played in the national championship game last year.

Denver return home for six straight at Barton Lacrosse Stadium against Stony Brook (Feb. 18), Duquesne (Feb. 22), Mount St. Mary's (Feb. 28), Loyola (March 3), Holy Cross (March 6) and Rutgers (March 20).

After another road swing, DU returns home for three final regular season home games against UC Davis (April 9), Stanford (April 11) and Fresno State (April 17).

DU will host the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Tournament at Barton Lacrosse Stadium on April 29-May 2. The winner of the MPSF title will play the Atlantic-10 champion for an NCAA Tournament bid.

The Pioneers return 23 players from the 2009 squad, including All-MPSF honoree Ali Flury (Arnold, Md.) and MPSF Co-Newcomer of the Year Ashley Harman (Boyertown, Pa.). DU finished the 2009 season with a 10-8 overall record and went 4-2 in the MPSF.

Day & Date    Opponent                   Location                  Time (MT)
Fri, Jan 29   St. Mary's                 at Moraga, Calif.         4:00 p.m. 
Sun, Jan 31   Cal Play Day               at Berkeley, Calif.        All Day	 
 
Fri, Feb 12   Duke                       at Durham, N.C.           2:00 p.m. 
Sun, Feb 14   Northern Carolina          at Chapel Hill, N.C.     11:00 a.m.
Thu, Feb 18   Stony Brook                Denver, Colo.             4:00 p.m. 
Sat, Feb 20   Stony Brook vs. Duquesne   Denver, Colo.            12:00 p.m.
Mon, Feb 22   Duquesne                   Denver, Colo.             3:00 p.m. 
Sun, Feb 28   Mount St. Mary's           Denver, Colo.             1:00 p.m. 
 
Wed, Mar 03   MSM vs. Holy Cross         Denver, Colo.            10:00 a.m.
Wed, Mar 03   Loyola                     Denver, Colo.             1:00 p.m.
Sat, Mar 06   Holy Cross                 Denver, Colo.             4:30 p.m.
Sat, Mar 20   Rutgers                    Denver, Colo.             1:00 p.m.
Fri, Mar 26   George Mason               at Fairfax, Va.           1:00 p.m.
Sun, Mar 28   Albany                     at Garrison Forest, Md.  10:00 a.m.
 
Fri, Apr 02   Cal Berkeley               at Berkeley, Calif.       1:00 p.m.
Fri, Apr 09   UC Davis                   Denver, Colo.             4:00 p.m.
Sun, Apr 11   Stanford                   Denver, Colo.             2:00 p.m.
Sat, Apr 17   Fresno State               Denver, Colo.             1:00 p.m.
Sat, Apr 24   Oregon                     at Eugene, Ore.           1:00 p.m.
 
Thu, Apr 29-
Sun, May 02   MPSF Championship          Denver, Colo.
 
Sat, May 08   Play in Game vs. A-10 Champion

2009-10-22