When DU women’s lacrosse made its first appearance in the NCAA Elite Eight in 2019, the Pioneers were walloped 17-8 by Maryland in a game that showed coach Liza Kelly where her program was, and where she wanted it to be.
Now, the Pios are back in the Elite Eight as the lone undefeated team left and three victories from becoming the first western women’s team to win the national title.
“That was what set the bar for us,” Kelly said of the loss at Maryland. “It was, ‘Okay, we’re good to this point — and then we need to be better.’ That’s been our goal since, and it was great earlier in the season to come out and beat Maryland … and on the same field we lost to them on that year. That was big milestone for us.”
DU’s 8-7 win over Maryland early in the season, the Pios’ first-ever win over the Terps, foreshadowed the history that the program would accomplish this year. Kelly’s No. 5 Pioneers are riding a program-record 21-game win streak entering Thursday’s showdown against No. 4 North Carolina at Dorrance Field in Chapel Hill, N.C.
The winner of DU/UNC gets the winner of No. 1 Northwestern vs. No. 8 Loyola Maryland in the semifinals.
“We just don’t get stressed, because we’ve been in these close situations so many times that it’s par for the course for us,” Kelly said. “We don’t get overly high when we’re up, overly low (when we’re down). We can score, and we know our defense can hold teams. We’ve been really successful at draw controls, too, so we’ve been able to get the ball to our attack.”
DU’s defense, headlined by sophomore goalie Emelia Bohi as well as senior Sam Thacker, graduate student Trinity McPherson and junior Bryn McCaughey, is the best in the nation at 5.90 goals allowed per game.
Kelly said the Pioneers’ zone concept, coupled with Bohi’s rapid maturation in her second year as starter, is enabling the unit to stifle opposing offenses. Bohi only started playing lacrosse six years ago.
“(Bohi) really got a lot of fantastic experience as a freshman, starting just about every game for us, and she struggled here and there at times, but through those struggles she figured out who she is,” Kelly said. “Last year was us figuring out what she knew and what she didn’t, and some of it was she just didn’t have the experience some of the other collegiate goalies have.”
Against the Tar Heels, DU will need to value possessions and slow the Tar Heels’ transition game in order to limit the damage done by UNC’s speedy midfield. And the Pioneers have to do it in what is essentially a home game for UNC, which has only traveled out of state for four of its 20 games. The well-traveled Pioneers, meanwhile, are on their fifth East Coast road trip.
Thursday’s game starts at 3:02 p.m. MT on ESPNU. May 26’s semifinals (time TBA, ESPNU) and May 28’s championship (10 a.m., ESPN) will be held at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, N.C.
