Georgetown Rolls to Fifth Straight Big East Title; Denver Awaits Fate

Has Bill Tierney coached his last game?

Eighth-ranked and top-seeded Georgetown defeated second-seeded Denver 14-5 in the Big East championship game at Marquette’s Valley Fields on Saturday, giving the Hoyas their fifth straight conference title.

Graduate transfers Nicky Solomon (North Carolina) and Tucker Dordevic (Syracuse) did much of the damage for Georgetown, which has won 12 straight games after starting the season 0-3.

Solomon scored the first three goals of the game as the Hoyas jumped out to a 7-0 lead and never looked back. He finished with six goals and an assist while Doredevic, who set a Big East tournament record with 10 points in Georgetown’s semifinal win over Providence, added four goals and an assist.

Dordevic was named the Big East championship MVP.

Georgetown’s defense was terrific. The Pioneers had as many turnovers (17) as they did shots on goal. Danny Hincks made 12 saves for the Hoyas.

Georgetown has earned the Big East’s automatic qualifier for the NCAA tournament and may have locked up a first-round home game. Patrick Stevens had the Hoyas hosting Cornell as the eighth seed our bracket projection Saturday morning.

Denver’s fate became more precarious with Michigan’s surprise run to the Big Ten championship as the four seed. About an hour after the Big East final ended, the Wolverines defeated defending NCAA champion Maryland 14-5 in the Big Ten final at Johns Hopkins.

Michigan’s bid thievery means Maryland is an at-large team, which means the Pioneers are pulling for Yale to beat Princeton in the Ivy League final Sunday. Even then, they’ll be up against Penn and its superior metrics when the selection committee weighs the merits of each.

Denver coach Bill Tierney is retiring after the season. The National Lacrosse Hall of Famer has won 439 games and seven NCAA championships as the head coach at Princeton and Denver. The Pioneers have already announced longtime assistant Matt Brown as Tierney’s successor.