Coach Bill Tierney's Top 5 Key DU Lacrosse Players

DENVER (CBS4) - College lacrosse has become very popular in Colorado after the Denver Pioneers won the national championship last year. They now have won 20 games in a row dating back to last season and fans have been packing Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium to see DU play.

DU head coach and lacrosse icon Bill Tierney was the special guest on Xfinity Monday Live. Among other topics, Tierney talked about several players who have been key to the team's success.

The following are the Top 5 players that have been instrumental in DU's success this year:

1. Jack Bobzien

Homegrown senior Jack Bobzien is the team's captain who attended Arapahoe High School in Littleton. He's currently fourth on the team in points with 10 goals and 7 assists. Bobzien began is college career playing for Hartford but then transferred to DU his sophomore year. Tierney said last year they had to move Bobzien to midfield, but this year he's back in his natural attack spot.

"(A) local guy who realized the mistake of his ways and came back to Colorado, and ever since then he's just been a fabulous leader -- both on and off the field. He's a great student, a great young man, practices and plays hard," Tierney said. "He kind of runs the show back there for us and does a great job of it."

2. Connor Cannizzaro

Junior Connor Cannizzaro also plays the attack spot and hails from Cazenovia, New York. He leads the team in goals (18) and assists (12). Last weekend against Ohio State Cannizzaro recorded his 20th career hat trick. He was a First Team All American last year.

"He led our team in scoring, broke our scoring record here at DU. He's just a fabulous talent. He's quick, he's strong, he can shoot, he can pass," Tierney said. "He's just relentless … Connor just every day comes to work, and it shows in his game."

Connor Cannizzaro was lucky enough to play with his older brother Sean last year during the national championship run.

3. Alex Ready

Goalie Alex Ready is only a freshman and is starting for the national champs. Ready has logged more than 375 minutes between the pipes and has a 7-0 record. Tierney said Ready was clearly the best option in goal during a type of open tryout last fall.

"Alex was clearly the guy to win the job and he's done a really good job ever since. He got a little banged up a couple of weeks ago against North Carolina, and you wouldn't know it with some of the saves he's been making the last couple of weeks," Tierney said. "But it is difficult because the game is really fast and he's playing high school lacrosse one year and playing at the highest level the next."

4. Tyler Pace

Junior midfielder Tyler Pace from Coquitlam, British Columbia, ranks second on the team in points (23) with 11 goals and 12 assists. Last year he started every game for the Pioneers and ended the season fourth on the team in points (49).

5. Zach Miller

Zach Miller, a junior midfielder, grew up on an Indian reservation near Steamburg, New York, and was featured in a CBS4 story in 2014.

"I started to playing lacrosse as soon as I could hold a stick and walk," Miller said at the time.

Miller ranks third on the team in points (20) with 12 goals and 8 assists.

"It's exciting to have this experience like Tyler Pace and Zach Miller and Cannizzaro and Bobzien, but it's also nice to have those young guys playing as well," Tierney said.

LINK: DU Pioneers Lacrosse

More video of DU's Bill Tierney's appearance on Xfinity Monday Live: