Denver men’s (2-0-2) and women’s soccer (2-0-4) had a solid week in non-conference action. Women’s soccer started their season with four consecutive ties. Then, last week they added two consecutive wins over Northern Colorado from the Big Sky Conference on Thursday and Sunday against North Carolina State from the ACC. The 2-0 win over Northern Colorado was expected but the 4-2 win over the Wolfpack was a big boost for new women’s head coach Julianne Sitch.
Denver scored three straight goals on the Wolfpack before the visitors rebounded with two goals in the second half. DU’s McKenna Dannenhauer scored the back-breaker in the 83rd minute to seal the victory for the Pioneers. Denver tallied twelve shots-on-goal to the Wolfpack’s two shots in an impressive effort.
Denver men’s soccer took down #11 SMU at Pioneer Field Friday night, 3-1. Oje Ofunrein’s two goals led Denver to a three-goal margin in the first half. The Mustangs of the American Athletic Conference (soon to be ACC members) scored in the second half and had 20 shots but only five were on-goal, the same as Denver.
On Labor Day, Jamie Franks team took the field against perennial soccer power Creighton from the Big EAST Conference. Denver took a 2-1 lead into halftime with goals from Holger Olson and Sam Bassett. Bassett broke a 1-1 tie, 35 seconds after the Bluejays knotted the score. The Bluejays controlled the second half as DU fell back. At 4:13, Creighton got a direct kick on a Denver handball. The Bluejay’s Miguel Arilla tucked the direct kick into the upper right corner of the DU net to tie the match, 2-2. The match ended in a draw as Denver spent the last 45 minutes defending their own end. The Pioneers were fortunate to forge a tie.
Denver Pioneers women’s triathlon team opened the 2023 season on Saturday morning with a team victory in an aquathlon eliminator duel (run & swim, no bicycle) at DU. Denver hosted an in-state triathlon team from Colorado Mesa University. Denver had four of the top 5 finishers to dominate the event.DU’s triathlon team will get tested in two weeks for its first triathlon of the season. The Pioneers will travel to Marine Creek Reservoir in Fort Worth, Texas, for the Battle in the Fort Triathlon, hosted by TCU. The Horned Frogs are in their first season of competition in women’s triathlon along with another NCAA newcomer Arizona along with defending champion Arizona State, San Francisco and South Dakota.
Dunker predicts conservatively that men’s soccer will be ranked 21-23 in most polls come Tuesday. If we had held on to defeat Creighton, we would have been around #15. Bad tie.
Good win vs SMU, but a tough tie with Creighton, especially losing a lead at home. DU, under Franks, almost always takes on a defensive posture with a lead. Most of the time, the DU defense closes out the win limiting the shots, but sometimes, the defense-first posture allows a good opponent a bit too much possession and opportunities to score. Hope they learn from it.