The sound of the referee’s whistle being blown approximately every five-to-ten minutes pulsed the atmosphere of CIBER Field as the University of Denver Pioneers hosted the Saint Mary’s College Gaels in a dramatic Sunday evening match. With six minutes remaining, Saint Mary’s Anders Engerbretsen cut past DU’s A.J. Fuller on the goal line and positioned his shot precisely in the upper left 90 corner to put the Gaels on the board first.
Denver (4-4-0,0-0-0 Summit League) controlled the majority of possession throughout the first half holding a 7-2 shot advantage over Saint Mary’s (2-3-2, 0-0-0 West Coast Conference).
Denver’s most promising chances came from Brazil native and junior forward Andre Shinyashiki and redshirt junior center back Scott DeVoss. Shinyashiki posted a lethal strike on frame in the 11th minute of the opening half, but the Saint Mary’s goalie got a hand on the shot.
DeVoss finished a lost ball from the six yard line off a scramble sequence that was later taken back due to an initial foul just ahead of the DeVoss’ chance.
The Gaels returned fired up in the second half whereas the Pioneer’s rhythm appeared disoriented; struggling to build up chances into the attacking third. Saint Mary’s doubled up their shot advantage over Denver 4-2.
The teams combined to commit 13 fouls in the opening half which escalated to 23 total fouls by the end of the match.
The match was played at a fast tempo, yet neither team could maintain a strong grasp of possession. Another loss for the Pioneers won’t demolish DU’s chances at finishing in the College Cup in Philadelphia as the in-conference portion of the season has yet to begin, but the Pioneers are desperately in need of a confidence boost they haven’t needed in past seasons.
For their next match, Denver will travel to St. Louis University to play St. Louis on Sept. 26 at 6 p.m.
We lost 3 players now playing in the MLS. No way we were going to be as strong as last year’s club. To make the NCAA Tournament, we will need to win Summit Conference tournament. I expect we will improve by the end of October, but Omaha will be a tough out in the conference tournament. . If we should earn our way into the Tournament, maybe our experience players help us make a run. Another College Cup appearance is a long shot at best.
I’ll echo Dunker. In the immortal words of Bill Parcels, you are what your record says you are. At 4-4-1, what we have is a mediocre soccer team this year that has some promise, but without the three now-pros the Pios are missing this year, this team is not College Cup material – don’t fool yourselves. Just making it to the NCAAs would be amazing this season.
Maybe the coach should temper his expectations just a bit. Fantastic job last year, but it was a little bold/foolhardy to publicly predict or aspire to a national championship this year. I wish the best for the team this year. I think they can get on a nice run later in the season. But the bigger issue is whether DU can parlay it’s final four finish last year into two or three years of high level recruiting.
We lost 3 players now playing in the MLS. No way we were going to be as strong as last year’s club. To make the NCAA Tournament, we will need to win Summit Conference tournament. I expect we will improve by the end of October, but Omaha will be a tough out in the conference tournament. . If we should earn our way into the Tournament, maybe our experience players help us make a run. Another College Cup appearance is a long shot at best.
I’ll echo Dunker. In the immortal words of Bill Parcels, you are what your record says you are. At 4-4-1, what we have is a mediocre soccer team this year that has some promise, but without the three now-pros the Pios are missing this year, this team is not College Cup material – don’t fool yourselves. Just making it to the NCAAs would be amazing this season.
Maybe the coach should temper his expectations just a bit. Fantastic job last year, but it was a little bold/foolhardy to publicly predict or aspire to a national championship this year. I wish the best for the team this year. I think they can get on a nice run later in the season. But the bigger issue is whether DU can parlay it’s final four finish last year into two or three years of high level recruiting.