Bill Tierney did not take long to assert his authority at the University of Denver. As soon as men’s lacrosse players arrived in the fall, they were required to lose any facial hair and trim their shaggy lax coifs.
“No lettuce,” Pioneers captain Dillon Roy joked. “I wouldn’t be surprised if he came out to practice and gave us bowl cuts through the helmet.”
Coaches could no longer be called by their first names — not even “Brownie,” assistant Matt Brown, a holdover from Jamie Munro’s staff.
It was house-cleaning time.
Less than a year after three players were arrested and eight more quit amongst the locker room malcontent, the once-proud Pioneers are prepared to rebuild their image in the lacrosse landscape, starting Friday with their season opener against No.1-ranked and two-time defending national champion Syracuse at the Carrier Dome.
“The thing had just fallen apart,” Tierney said. “It wasn’t Jamie Munro’s fault. He did everything he could to keep it 
together. He was a great guy who did a great job here. But sometimes, new management is needed.”
“A lot of things happened at once, and people grew apart. It wasn’t really a team,” said senior midfielder Charley Dickenson. “It just unfolded in a sense that players wanted a change.”
With a Hall of Fame coach and six-time national champion at the helm, Denver has its fresh start.
“They’ve been flushed of controversy,” Tierney said. “It’s a baptism, a cleansing. ‘OK, we can be lacrosse players again.’”
Louisville native Chase Carraro, pictured here in Denver's fall-ball exhibition Oct. 24 against the hometown Outlaws, is excited about his and the Pioneers' debut Friday against No. 1 Syracuse at the Carrier Dome. Jamie Schwaberow
One particularly excited lacrosse player, who wasn’t even with the team a year ago, is freshman Chase Carraro. After signing to play for Munro and seeing events unfold last spring, Carraro, a trailblazer out of St. Xavier High School in Louisville, Ky., had his doubts.
They vanished quickly.
“I couldn’t be walking into a better situation,” Carraro said. “One of the best coaches of all-time is about to take over the program with me coming in as a freshman.”
The feeling’s mutual.
“Chase Carraro could become one of the best faceoff guys in the country,” Tierney said.
Carraro can do more than just face off, but his compact clamp and ability to get out of the crouch quickly will allow him to make an immediate impact at midfield. The ECAC, the conference Denver and other former GWLL affiliates joined this year, honored Carraro as its preseason rookie of the year. He replaces Ben Wahler, a good leader who won 58 percent of faceoffs last year.
“It’ll be a tough position for me as a freshman,” Carraro said, “but I’m ready to take it head on.”
It’s that kind of bullish attitude that made Carraro something of a hidden treasure in Kentucky, where few players matriculate into the Division I ranks. A strong performance at the 2008 Nike Blue Chip Lacrosse Camp helped Carraro gain national recognition. He liked Munro’s innovative approach, but has since warmed up to Tierney’s old-school philosophy.
“I hadn’t seen him in a coaching role until our first meeting, when he told us what he expected out of us this year and what he wanted us to aspire to do out on the field,” Carraro said. “It was definitely a ‘Welcome to Coach Tierney’ moment.”
Carraro worked diligently in the offseason on his approach to faceoffs, utilizing his speed better and weeding out bad habits, like shooting underhand. He wants to represent Kentucky well, starting Friday at the Carrier Dome.
“I’ve had my ‘Welcome to Coach Tierney’ moment. That’ll definitely be my ‘Welcome to D-I Lacrosse’ moment,” he said. “I don’t have any reason to be nervous for any game after this one. That’s probably the best D-I atmosphere there is.”
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