PHILADELPHIA — None of the traditional motivational ploys — the guest speakers and the playoff beards — had worked in the past, so Coach Bill Tierney cut it out, all of it.
No speakers, no beards — this was Denver’s agnostic approach to its fourth trip to the N.C.A.A. men’s lacrosse Final Four in five seasons. The focus remained on the team, the task at hand and a game plan that Tierney believed could finally get him into a national title game with the Pioneers, a first for a program he had essentially renovated from the studs after arriving six years ago.