Trevor R. Tierney is a current National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) men's lacrosse assistant coach, former Major League Lacrosse (MLL) defensive coordinator and retired lacrosse goaltender who has played professional box lacrosse in the National Lacrosse League (NLL) and professional field lacrosse in MLL. Trevor starred as a member of the Princeton Tigers men's lacrosse team from 1998 through 2001, where he was an NCAA goaltender of the year, two-time United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) All-American (first team once), a national goals against average (GAA) and save percentage statistical champion and a member of two national champion teams.

Trevor Tierney
NationalityAmerican
PositionGoaltender
NLL teamsColorado Mammoth (2003)
MLL teamsNew Jersey Pride (20012004)
Boston Cannons (2004)
Baltimore Bayhawks (2005)
Denver Outlaws (20062007)
NCAA teamPrinceton University
Pro career2001–2007
WebsiteNLL webpage
Career highlights
College highlights
Records
  • NCAA career goals against average (6.65, 2001–2006)
  • NCAA single-season goals against average (5.70, 2001–2006)
  • Princeton career goals against average (6.65, 2001–present)
Professional highlights
Medal record
Representing  United States
Lacrosse
World Lacrosse Championship
Gold medal – first place 2002 Perth Field lacrosse
Silver medal – second place 2006 London (Ontario) Field lacrosse

During his time at Princeton, the team qualified for the NCAA Men's Lacrosse Championship all four years, reached the championship game three times, won the championship game twice and won four Ivy League championships. Trevor was a co-captain of the second national champion team he participated on. For five years, Tierney held the NCAA goaltending all-time records and continues to hold the Princeton University career GAA record. He is the son of Hall of Fame coach Bill Tierney.

He was a two-time Team USA goaltender for the World Lacrosse Championships and a former All-World goaltender. He is a three-time MLL All-Star and won a MLL championship. Since retiring he has become a defensive coordinator for MLL's Denver Outlaws and a defensive assistant for his fathers Denver Pioneers team.

Background edit

Tierney attended the Hun School of Princeton, where he played goaltender.[1]

College career edit

 
(left to right): Christian Cook, Jesse Hubbard, Tierney and Keith Elias in 2002

At Princeton Trevor Tierney was awarded the 2001 Ensign C. Markland Kelly, Jr. Award as the best National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) lacrosse goaltender.[2] He was a first team USILA All-American Team selection in 2001 and honorable mention selection in 2000.[3][4] Trevor was also a 2000 honorable mention All-Ivy League selection, 2001 first team All-Ivy selection, 2000 Academic All-Ivy selection,[5][6] and a 2001 USILA Scholar All-American.[2] He served as co-captain of the 2001 team.[7] Tierney was the 2001 national statistical champion for goals against average (GAA) (5.70) and save percentage (.671).[8] He held NCAA the career (6.65) and single (5.70) season GAA record from 2001 until they were both surpassesd in 2006 by Navy's Matt Russell.[9] His career GAA continues to be a Princeton record.[10] During his four-year career, Princeton went undefeated in Ivy League Conference play with consecutive 6–0 records.[5][6][11][12] Princeton was invited to the 1999 tournament, was a finalist in the 2000 tournament and earned championships in both the 1998 and 2001 tournaments, bringing the schools consecutive tournament invitations streak to twelve.[13]

As a freshman playing for his father's team, Trevor Tierney was able to get playing time during the 1998 regular season because Princeton was winning their games by a large margin.[14] In the 1998 NCAA championship quarterfinals, he came in as a substitute with his team behind by four goals and shut out Duke for 32 minutes as Princeton rallied for an 11– 9 victory.[15] This led to a minor controversy over who would start for the remaining tournament games.[16] Corey Popham ended up playing and earning NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player.[2] In the semifinals of the 2000 NCAA championship, Trevor made 14 saves as his younger brother Brendan Tierney scored two fourth quarter goals to lead Princeton to a 12–11 victory over Virginia.[17][18] In 2001, Trevor was one of five finalists for the Tewaaraton Trophy as the outstanding male player in college lacrosse.[19] In the 2001 semifinal 12–11 victory over Towson State, he made game-saving last-minute point-blank saves to secure the victory.[20]

Professional career edit

Tierney was drafted by the New Jersey Pride with the second overall selection in the 2001 MLL Draft.[21] He played with the Pride from 2001 until 2004 when he was traded to the Boston Cannons.[22][23] He also played in the NLL with the Colorado Mammoth in 2003.[24] In MLL, he was traded to the Baltimore Bayhawks, where he earned his first Major League Lacrosse All-Star Game selection in 2005 and a MLL Championship.[21][22][25] In 2006, Tierney was part of what is believed to have been the largest trade in professional sports, involving 6 teams and 24 players when he was traded from the Bayhawks to the Denver Outlaws.[26] He earned two more All-Star selections in 2006 and 2007 with the Outlaws, before becoming their defensive coordinator in 2008.[21][22] Tierney retired from active play due to a series of concussions.[27] The final career-ending concussion occurred during warm-ups on June 16, 2007 against the Rochester Rattlers.[28]

Trevor Tierney represented Team USA at the 2002 and 2006 World Lacrosse Championships earning a gold and silver medal, respectively. On the 2006 team, he was one of four Princeton athletes.[29] At the 2002 World Championship, he was selected as the tournament's All-World goaltender.[21] In the semifinal match that year Trevor made seven first half saves as Team USA built a 9–2 lead over the Iroquois Nationals.[30] He was nominated as a finalist (one of 5 goaltenders) for MLL's first All-decade team in celebration of the first ten years of the league.[31] Trevor is the only goalie to have won an NCAA Men's Lacrosse Championship, an International Lacrosse Federation World Lacrosse Championship and a Major League Lacrosse Steinfeld Cup Championship.[21]

In 2010, Trevor Tierney joined his father's coaching staff for the Denver Pioneers as the defensive assistant coach and yoga instructor.[32] He left his position with the Outlaws to concentrate on his role on his father's staff.[27]

Personal edit

Trevor Tierney is the son of Helen and Bill Tierney and is the oldest of their four children.[27] He is from an athletic family. In addition to his Hall of Fame father, all of his siblings are athletes and coaches. Brendan was a teammate on the 2001 championship team at Princeton.[33] His sister Courtney Tierney, a former Franklin & Marshall basketball player, is the head girls' basketball coach at Pennington Prep. Brianne Tierney, who played lacrosse at Loyola University Maryland and Colgate University, is the head women's lacrosse coach at Kent State University, which will begin varsity play in the 2019 season.[33][34] In 2019, he received a masters degree from Harvard Extension School.[35]

Notes edit

  1. ^ "School Community Rallies to Assist the Family of Paralyzed Hun Player". Princeton University. May 28, 1997. Retrieved August 19, 2010.
  2. ^ a b c "Men's Lacrosse" (PDF). Princeton University. p. 25. Retrieved August 12, 2010.
  3. ^ "2001 Division I USILA All-American Team" (PDF). United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association. Retrieved August 13, 2010.
  4. ^ "2000 Division I USILA All-American Team" (PDF). United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association. Retrieved August 13, 2010.
  5. ^ a b "2000 Ivy Men's Lacrosse". IvyLeagueSports.com. Archived from the original on January 22, 2005. Retrieved August 18, 2010.
  6. ^ a b "2001 Ivy Men's Lacrosse". IvyLeagueSports.com. Archived from the original on January 22, 2005. Retrieved August 18, 2010.
  7. ^ "Men's Lacrosse" (PDF). Princeton University. p. 21. Retrieved August 12, 2010.
  8. ^ "Men's Division I Records" (PDF). National Collegiate Athletic Association. pp. 10–11. Retrieved August 8, 2010.
  9. ^ "Men's Division I Records" (PDF). National Collegiate Athletic Association. pp. 5–8. Retrieved August 8, 2010.
  10. ^ "Men's Lacrosse" (PDF). Princeton University. p. 27. Retrieved August 12, 2010.
  11. ^ "1998 Ivy Men's Lacrosse". IvyLeagueSports.com. Archived from the original on January 22, 2005. Retrieved August 17, 2010.
  12. ^ "1999 Ivy Men's Lacrosse". IvyLeagueSports.com. Archived from the original on January 22, 2005. Retrieved August 18, 2010.
  13. ^ "Men's Championship Results" (PDF). National Collegiate Athletic Association. p. 5. Retrieved August 8, 2010.
  14. ^ Wallace, William N. (April 30, 1998). "Lacrosse: Notebook; Teams Play Waiting Game on Tourney Selections". The New York Times. Retrieved August 18, 2010.
  15. ^ Wallace, William N. (May 17, 1998). "Lacrosse; Tigers and Orange Advance". The New York Times. Retrieved August 18, 2010.
  16. ^ Wallace, William N. (May 20, 1998). "Lacrosse: Notebook – National Tournaments; Men's Title Games Set for This Weekend". The New York Times. Retrieved August 24, 2010.
  17. ^ Hollander, Sophia (May 28, 2000). "Lacrosse; Syracuse and Princeton Survive to Reach Final". The New York Times. Retrieved August 18, 2010.
  18. ^ Hollander, Sophia (May 29, 2000). "Lacrosse; It's All in the Family as Princeton Goes for a Title". The New York Times. Retrieved August 18, 2010.
  19. ^ Litsky, Frank (May 25, 2001). "Plus: Lacrosse; Hofstra's Shanahan Is Award Finalist". The New York Times. Retrieved August 18, 2010.
  20. ^ Litsky, Frank (May 27, 2001). "Lacrosse; Syracuse and Princeton Earn Rematch for Title". The New York Times. Retrieved August 18, 2010.
  21. ^ a b c d e "Trevor Tierney". University of Denver. Retrieved August 19, 2010.
  22. ^ a b c "2010 Major League Lacrosse Player Encyclopedia" (PDF). Major League Lacrosse. p. 135. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 10, 2011. Retrieved August 19, 2010.
  23. ^ "Transactions". The New York Times. July 15, 2004. Retrieved August 18, 2010.
  24. ^ "Career Stats". National Lacrosse League. Archived from the original on August 10, 2010. Retrieved August 19, 2010.
  25. ^ "2010 Major League Lacrosse Media Guide" (PDF). Major League Lacrosse. p. 47. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 10, 2011. Retrieved August 30, 2010.
  26. ^ "Major League Lacrosse Announces Historical TradeRecord six teams and 24 players and picks dealt". Long Island Lizards. April 21, 2006. Retrieved August 18, 2010.
  27. ^ a b c Smith Theresa (June 19, 2009). "Trevor Tierney Confident Dad Can Elevate Denver". Lacrosse Magazine. Retrieved August 19, 2010.
  28. ^ Smith, Theresa (August 23, 2007). "Goalkeeper approaching finish line". Denver Post. Retrieved August 19, 2010.
  29. ^ "Princeton Well-Represented In Major League Lacrosse All-Star Event: Hubbard, Sims to play against four Tigers from Team USA". CSTV Networks, Inc. June 15, 2006. Archived from the original on September 3, 2006. Retrieved August 23, 2010.
  30. ^ "U.S. rolls, will face Canada for ILF title". Baltimore Sun. July 13, 2002. Retrieved August 26, 2010.
  31. ^ "MLL Ten Year Anniversary Team Voting". Long Island Lizards. June 17, 2010. Retrieved August 19, 2010.
  32. ^ Thamel, Pete (May 1, 2010). "New Frontier as a Lacrosse Coach Goes West". The New York Times. Retrieved August 18, 2010.
  33. ^ a b "Bill Tierney". University of Denver. Retrieved August 19, 2010.
  34. ^ "Brianne Tierney". Kent State Golden Flashes. Retrieved November 4, 2017.
  35. ^ "Trevor Tierney Rejoins Denver Men's Lacrosse Staff". University of Denver. August 11, 2014. Retrieved July 3, 2020.
Preceded by Ensign C. Markland Kelly, Jr. Award
2001
Succeeded by
Preceded by NCAA Goals against average champion
2001
Succeeded by
Preceded by NCAA Save percentage champion
2001
Succeeded by

External links edit