rest - http://www.denverpost.com/breakingne...-mens-lacrossePHILADELPHIA — Denver's grand lacrosse experiment has reached the sport's summit.
Wesley Berg scored five goals and goalie Ryan LaPlante made 13 saves as the fourth-seeded Pioneers suffocated sixth-seeded Maryland 10-5 in Monday's NCAA tournament final before 24,215 at Lincoln Financial Field, securing the program its first national championship.
Denver (17-2) became the first school west of the Appalachians in the tournament's 45-year history to win a championship. And it became only the second in the last 32 years to earn a title in its first championship game appearance.
The other was 1992 Princeton, which won six titles in a 10-year span under coach Bill Tierney. And it was Denver's decision to lure Tierney westward in the spring of 2009 that signaled its intention to take the program especially seriously.