Denver soccer teams and volleyball ended a challenging week on the road, returning home for the start of school this week.
Women’s soccer (3-3-2) earned a thrilling win at Colorado State on Sunday behind the foot of Sami Feller. Feller scored five minutes into the match but it was her second goal with the game tied 1-1 at 90 minutes that stunned the Rams in Fort Collins. As the game clock wound down, Feller received a deep pass from Megan Prazich and gently chipped the ball over the Colorado State keeper for a 2-1 Denver victory.
Prazich ➡️ Feller for the game winner in the 90th minute!#GoPios | @NCAASoccer pic.twitter.com/s9akhivg0e
— Denver Women's Soccer (@DU_WSoccer) September 12, 2022
Four nights earlier, the Pioneers came back from a 1-0 deficit to earn a result at San Jose State. Ella Frost nailed a penalty kick with five minutes remaining for a 1-1 tie.
Women’s soccer returns to the pitch this weekend as Denver faces Colorado and the Buffs’ high-octane offense Saturday afternoon at 1pm in Boulder.
Denver men’s soccer (4-1-1) went west to take on UC San Diego Friday night. The Pios dispatched the Tritons 2-0. Sam Bassett started the scoring on a handball PK call on UCSD to take a 1-0 lead. DU doubled their advantage on a set piece when Bassett lofted a corner kick into the box that Trevor Wright tucked into the net for the 2-0 win. On Sunday, though, Denver dropped a 2-1 heartbreaker to San Diego State for their first loss of the season. After a scoreless first half, SDSU took the lead at the 66-minute mark. Denver responded seven minutes later to knot the contest 1-1 thanks to a Griffin Meyer tally. Unfortunately, the Aztecs countered with the game-winner just a minute later on a set piece to seal the victory for the hosts.
DU faced a brutal stretch of road games – and passed the test with flying colors, moving into the Top 10 for the first time since 2018 – and finally returns home for three straight matches, with one this week. Denver faces Portland Friday night at 7 pm MT at Pioneer Field in their second to last game before conference play begins.
Denver volleyball also traveled to Texas for a pair of matches at the Longhorn Classic. Denver played a poor match against UC Irvine, falling 3-1 to the Anteaters. Denver was short several players due to Covid-19 and arrived in Austin in the early morning and never woke up. Denver rebounded against the Longhorns, the nation’s top-ranked team, despite falling 3-0 (25-20, 25-17, 25-22). Hailey Green had 10 kills, Lorrin Poulter had 23 assists, and Gianna Bartolo had 12 digs.
Denver returns to Colorado for the Thin Air Challenge. DU travels to Air Force on Thursday at 6:30 pm MT before finally returning to Hamilton Gym for a pair of marches against San Francisco Friday at 6:00 pm MT and Saturday at 3:00 pm MT against UC San Diego.