Denver

Salisbury transfer Eric Law picked up a rebound on the edge of the crease and scored with 13.4 seconds left to cap a historic comeback and give No. 4 seed Denver a 12-11 win over fifth-seeded North Carolina in the NCAA men's lacrosse tournament quarterfinals at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis on Sunday afternoon. The game, played before an announced 7,749, was the first men's lacrosse quarterfinal held at a venue not on the East Coast. Denver, the first team in men's quarterfinal history to win after trailing by five goals or more, will face No. 1 seed Syracuse in the semifinals Saturday afternoon at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.

It took two unexpected turn of events for former Gilman lacrosse standout Gordie Koerber to end up playing at the University of Denver, one of four teams left in this year's Division I NCAA men's lacrosse tournament. Until seventh grade, Koerber was the goalie for his lacrosse team before suffering two injuries made him change his mind about the position. After taking two close range shots to his chest just days apart, Koerber's parents, Bryan and Gillian, were fearful of additional injuries, especially as he faced larger, stronger players.

As the top seed in the Eastern College Athletic Conference tournament, No. 3 Loyola is the favorite to survive the two rounds, capture the tourney, and earn the league's automatic qualifier to the NCAA tournament. But in Wednesday night's semifinal, the Greyhounds (12-1) must first get past No. 9 Denver (8-5), which upset No. 5 Duke, 15-9, last Friday. Coach Charley Toomey said there are no plans to review the Pioneers' win against the Blue Devils with the team. “We really don't have to show that film to talk about respecting Denver,” he said of the two-time reigning conference champion during a conference call Monday of the four coaches participating in the conference tournament.

Hardly anyone would second-guess Denver coach Bill Tierney if he elected to start Saturday's NCAA tournament semifinal against top-seeded Syracuse with junior goalkeeper Jamie Faus in the cage rather than opening with sophomore Ryan LaPlante as he has done in 17 of the team's 18 contests this season. After all, Faus was one of the primary reasons why the fourth-seeded Pioneers (14-4) are enjoying its second Final Four in the last three years. He made 11 saves and surrendered just five goals in more than 50 minutes of play after replacing LaPlante in the first quarter of an eventual 12-11 decision against fifth-seeded North Carolina last Sunday in the quarterfinal round.

Hopefully, the Ravens packed some long johns.  It may be unseasonably mild in Baltimore today, but Ravens are facing frigid temperatures and the possibility of light snow when the team goes head-to-head against the Broncos in Denver this afternoon. According to the National Weather Service, a push of arctic air is chilling the mountain region with highs only reaching between 18 to 23 degrees today. As of this morning, the temperature is well below freezing at just 1 degrees in Denver.

Jeremy Noble, Denver Sophomore, Orangeville, Ontario, midfielder Noble had a record-setting performance in the Pioneers' 16-14 upset of No. 8 seed North Carolina in a NCAA tournament first-round game Saturday night. The 5-foot-8, 165-pound midfielder collected a career-best 10 points on three goals and a career-high seven assists. The point total was a single-game Denver record. Noble posted one goal and four assists in a pivotal third quarter in which the Pioneers turned a 10-8 halftime deficit into a 13-12 lead heading into the fourth quarter; he then added two assists in the final period.

Loyola and Denver will meet in the NCAA tournament for the first time, but it's the third contest in five weeks between the Eastern College Athletic Conference rivals. The top-seeded Greyhounds (15-1) won the first two meetings and have absorbed just one loss at the hands of Johns Hopkins on April 28, but this is their first appearance in a tournament quarterfinal since 2001. The Pioneers (9-6) experienced this stage of the tournament last May when they stunned the Blue Jays to advance to their first Final Four in school history.

Each week, The Sun has published a Q&A with an area college lacrosse player to get you more acquainted with the player and his/her team. Friday's guest isn't local, but Denver junior attackman Mark Matthews has been drawing attention nationally for his personal success this season, which includes finishing the regular season ranked fourth in Division I in points per game (4.13) and fifth in goals per game (2.73). The sixth-seeded Pioneers meet No. 3 seed Johns Hopkins in the quarterfinals of the NCAA tournament on Saturday.

•Denver will try to salvage a spot in the NCAA tournament with its game tonight against Duke in the Whitman's Sampler Mile High Classic. But it will also be a showcase for the city and the state on a big stage in a big stadium. NCAA championship officials will be in attendance, and Denver has made it no secret that the city thinks it is ready to host a final four. Officials will be evaluating the city for potential NCAA hosting duties. "We certainly feel like this could send a message to the NCAA," Denver coach Bill Tierney said.

Minutes after what would prove to be a season-defining victory for the Denver men's lacrosse team over reigning national champion Duke last month, on April 9, in Bethpage, N.Y., a reporter congratulated Pioneers coach Bill Tierney by telling him that the win would attract talented players from the Long Island hotbed. "I kind of looked at the roster and said, 'We've got some pretty good players. We've got guys from 20 different states,'" Tierney said as a smile creased his face. "It's all part of what we're going through.

Salisbury transfer Eric Law picked up a rebound on the edge of the crease and scored with 13.4 seconds left to cap a historic comeback and give No. 4 seed Denver a 12-11 win over fifth-seeded North Carolina in the NCAA men's lacrosse tournament quarterfinals at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis on Sunday afternoon. The game, played before an announced 7,749, was the first men's lacrosse quarterfinal held at a venue not on the East Coast. Denver, the first team in men's quarterfinal history to win after trailing by five goals or more, will face No. 1 seed Syracuse in the semifinals Saturday afternoon at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.

Down 7-3 in the fourth quarter, No. 2 Notre Dame put together a 6-0 rally to edge upset-minded Detroit in an NCAA tournament first-round game Saturday, 9-7. Matt Kavanagh, who scored four second-half goals, tied the game at 7 with 10:10 left and then put the Irish (11-4) ahead for good with less than six minutes remaining. The Titans (5-10) were able to keep Notre Dame in check during the first half as Detroit took a 5-1 lead into halftime. Brandon Beauregard led the Titans with three goals.

Molly Fernandez (McDonogh) scored her 100th career goal and Mackenzie Cyr (Winters Mill) recorded a team-high three points as the seventh-seeded Penn State women's lacrosse team edged visiting Canisius, 14-13, in an NCAA Division I tournament first-round game Friday night. The Nittany Lions (13-6), who secured their first 13-win season since 1999, advanced to the NCAA second round and will face Massachusetts Sunday at 1 p.m. Cyr recorded her sixth hat trick of the season, while Fernandez had two to reach the 100-goal plateau.

Denver coach Bill Tierney jokes that it took only four years for college coaches, including himself, to put Eric Law in the best position to succeed. Law has gone from being a backup at Salisbury as a freshman to - after transferring to the Pioneers - a sophomore midfielder to a junior wing attackman to the quarterback of the offense in 2013. And Law has thrived in his latest role, setting both team and personal bests in assists (31) and points (64). “So finally, after three years of playing - one at Division III, one at midfield and one at not his most comfortable position - in his fourth year of college, he gets to do what he does best, and you've seen the results,” Tierney said with a chuckle.

Turner Evans scored his fourth goal, the game-winner, with 24 seconds left as No. 8 Ohio State upset No. 3 and top-seeded Denver, 11-10, in the Eastern College Athletic Conference men's lacrosse championship Saturday in Geneva, N.Y. The win secured the automatic bid to the NCAA tournament for Ohio State. The Buckeyes (12-3) led for most of the first half, until Denver (12-4) tied it at 6 when Wesley Berg (two goals, one assist) scored with 3:02 left in the second quarter. The second half featured four ties, the last, at 10, coming on a goal by Eric Law (two goals, one assist)

Denver's Jill Remenapp had no idea she was on her way to a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation record when she handed out nine assists in the No. 15 Pioneers' 20-9 win over St. Mary's (Cal.) on Sunday afternoon. “I didn't realize I was on such a roll,” the Century graduate said. “At halftime, Josie Owen, our grad assistant coach, said, 'Jill, you have six assists.' I was like, 'What?' because when I'm in the game I'm not thinking, 'Oh I had another assist.' Plus, you don't know whether you're going to get recorded for it. But [the St. Mary's defenders]

The Loyola men's basketball team made history this past winter when it qualified for the NCAA tournament for the first time in 18 years. With its 10-9 decision over Denver Saturday, the men's lacrosse team advanced to its first Final Four since 1998. But junior long-stick midfielder Scott Ratliff said the players and coaches aren't content now. “We have a little higher expectation than just making the tournament,” he said. “I think we knew from the very beginning this fall how much we had in this locker room and that we had a good shot to get this program back to the Final Four.” The top-seeded Greyhounds (16-1)

This Saturday, No. 8 Loyola will visit No. 7 Denver in a key showdown that could determine the top seed in the coming Eastern College Athletic Conference tournament. It will mark the third consecutive year that the Greyhounds will have traveled to the metropolitan area affectionately called The Mile High City, and the team is still seeking its first win there. The Pioneers beat Loyola, 12-4, at what used to be known as Invesco Field - the home of the NFL's Broncos - in 2010, and Fairfield delivered a similar result with a 10-9 decision in the semifinal round of last year's league tournament.

Sam Snow scored the game-winner with 56 seconds left in overtime as the visiting Fairfield men's lacrosse team upset top-ranked Denver, 10-9, Saturday in front of an announced 2,520 at Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium. The Stags (8-5, 4-2 Eastern College Athletic Conference) recorded the program's first win over a No. 1 team. The victory gives the Stags a spot in the ECAC championship May 2-4 at Hobart. Denver fell to 10-3 overall and 5-1 in league play. Michael Roe won the opening faceoff of overtime and Fairfield called a timeout.

No. 19 Connecticut took a 6-4 lead into halftime and never relinquished it, upsetting No. 7 Notre Dame at home, 10-7, in women's lacrosse Sunday. The Huskies (13-1, 5-1 Big East) won all their home games in a season for the first time in program history. The Fighting Irish (11-3, 5-3) scored just three goals in the second half, two by Lauren Sullivan. Morgan O'Reilly had four goals on senior day to lead UConn, Carly Palmucci added a pair of first-half goals and Lauren Kahn scored her team-leading 32nd goal of the season.