DU finished as the BIG EAST Tournament runner-up for the second straight season after falling to [6/9] Florida in the title game. Kelly guided the Pioneers to their third NCAA Tournament appearance, and Denver’s first selection since 2014, reaching the second round of the tournament for the third time in program history. All three appearances have been under the guidance of Kelly.

Last season, Denver had an RPI of 16 and went up against nine nationally ranked teams, with wins against No. 23 Stanford, No. 14 Colorado, No. 24 Georgetown and No. 17 High Point. DU ranked in the top 20 in scoring defense with a 10.15 goals-against-average. The Pioneers tallied a 5-4 record on the road, a 6-3 home record and went 2-0 in neutral-site games.

Denver had a top-20 scoring defense in 2018, holding opponents to 10.15 goals a game, including three instances in which the Pioneers held their opponents to five goals or less. The season low came against Bulter on March 31, when Denver allowed just one goal.

Kelly reached another milestone in her coaching career during the 2018 season. In the March 29 game versus Colorado, Kelly recorded her 150th win at the helm of the Pioneers’ program with the 10-8 victory.

On an individual level, during the regular season the Crimson and Gold had players awarded BIG EAST Players of the Week seven times, with goalkeeper Carson Gregg selected as the Defensive Player of the Week a league-high three times. Hoch-Bullen was twice named Freshman of the Week, and Kendra Lanuza and Feiss were each named Attacker of the Week once. In the BIG EAST Tournament, Denver had three players chosen for the All-BIG EAST Tournament Team in Maddie Baum, Elizabeth Behrins and Caitlin Derry.

Denver had four members named to the All-BIG EAST teams with attacker Julia Feiss and defender Kennedy Milburn named to the first team, as well as draw specialist Maddie Baum and attacker Quintin Hoch-Bullen named to the second team. Hoch-Bullen was also selected as the BIG EAST Co-Freshman of the Year, the first major award winner for DU since 2015. Milburn and Feiss also went on to earn IWLCA West/Midwest Region Second Team honors.

Academically, 30 student-athletes made the BIG EAST All-Academic team and for the eighth-straight year, DU was named to the IWLCA Zag Sports Academic Honor Squads for the 2016-17 academic year.