This season, the NCAA is consolidating the Division I Men’s and Women’s Soccer Championships by having all 48 women’s teams and all 36 men’s teams compete in Cary, North Carolina, and the surrounding areas. Denver men’s and women’s soccer were assigned their first-round opponents Monday.
DU men’s soccer will represent the Summit League with a 6-2 record and are pitted against the Southern Conference winner, UNC Greensboro (9-2-2, 3-1-2). Three-quarters of the Spartans’ goals come from three players – Theo Collomb (7), Mani Austman (6), and Fernando Garcia (5). They score 1.92 goals per game and allow 0.89 goals per game. Denver scores 1.5 goals per game and allows 0.63 goals per game. Jacob Stensson leads DU with 3 goals and 4 assists along with Kengo Ohira with 3 goals and 2 assists. Game times are to be announced. The winner advances to play the fourth overall seed Stanford Cardinal (9-2-1, 7-2-1) in the second round.
✅9th D1 @NCAASoccer Bid
✅3rd-Straight
✅7th in the last 8 years. #PioneerTogether https://t.co/yNxAROwC5M— Denver MSoccer (@DU_MSoccer) April 19, 2021
#22 DU women’s soccer (16-2-1, 14-1-1) will play Missouri Valley Conference representative Loyola-Chicago (8-1-1, 6-1-1). The Ramblers score 2.0 goals per game and only allow 0.50 goals per game. Loyola’s Megan Nemec has 3 goals and 9 assists and Lindsey Hardiman has 5 goals. Denver matches Loyola statistics with 1.95 goals allowed per match and 0.47 goals allowed. DU is led by Natalie Beckman with 10 goals and 14 assists and Sami Feller with 8 goals and 8 assists. The winner advances to play second overall seed North Carolina (15-1, 8-0) in the second round.
And the bracket is set‼️#SummitWSOC champion @DU_WSoccer will face Loyola Chicago in the opening round of the @NCAASoccer Championship 😎#ReachTheSummit pic.twitter.com/jyVh86QGQM
— The Summit League (@TheSummitLeague) April 19, 2021
Top photo of Jacob Stensson & Natalie Beckman courtesy of Denver Athletics
The DU women are ranked #31 by the NCAA, and they have a solid chance to beat the #57-ranked Loyola-Chicago Ramblers, with DU as the favorite here. But if the Pios do get by Loyola, DU has very little chance to beat #2-ranked UNC, playing essentially at home in North Carolina.
The DU men, fairly ranked #85 in the country, will play #58-ranked UNC-Greenboro in North Carolina. UNC-G will be favored to advance here. Not an impossible opponent for the Pios, but winning here would be an upset. If DU were to upset UNCG,#4 Stanford will likely end DU’s season.
The men’s schedule has been so chopped up this season that I think they have a challenging road, no matter who they play.But, the women’s side seems to be improving every match with a number of different contributors. I think they could surprise some folks but getting North Carolina in Cary is a tough draw. Upsets do happen but that would rank as one of DU’s biggest ever. Looking forward to watching both teams in their respective tournaments.