Men's Soccer, Men's Sports

Denver Men’s Soccer Stuns #4/5 Stanford in Palo Alto

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#15 Denver men’s soccer (2-0) faced off against the expected national contender #4/5 Stanford Cardinal (1-1) Sunday night in Palo Alto, California. The Pioneers played a  physical, tight match, slipping by the Cardinal in the final 45 minutes with a goal by freshman Keegan Kelly who hails from New Zealand.

It was a defensive first half with three shots from the Cardinal to only one for the Pioneers. Stanford was called for eight fouls and Denver three in the physical first forty-five minutes. A knotted score is just what Denver needed to generate confidence for their second half push.

Kelly struck early in the second half (49′) with a long header/assist from sophomore Tyler Schommer. That is all Denver would need as they held off the desperate hosts. At the 74th minute, Stanford rattled a shot off the Pioneer crossbar but could not find pay dirt in their best chance in the final 45 minutes. Stanford earned six shots in the second half along with three corner kicks but goalkeeper Isaac Nehme kept Stanford off the board for the evening. Denver finished with five shots on goal – none bigger than the tally from DU’s Keegan Kelly.

The six-game season-opening road trip heads north to Washington this week as the Pioneers have a chance to move to 3-0 on the season and against Power Four foes when they meet the University of Washington Huskies on Thursday (7 pm MT).

Top photo courtesy of Stanford Athletics

2 thoughts on “Denver Men’s Soccer Stuns #4/5 Stanford in Palo Alto”

  1. Huge, statement win for the program. This looks like Jamie’s best DU team since 2016. Knocking off a top-5 Stanford team on the road is a huge building block for a season where DU could be a legitimate contender for the NCAA College Cup.

    The Pioneers had never beaten the Cardinal before, and Stanford is probably the best program in the country over the last 10 years, winning three college cups. It’s a standard -measuring achievement to beat them at Cagan, and I think this road weekend sweep of Cal and Stanford should put DU near (or into) the top 10 nationally.

    What is most exciting about this Denver team is that the scoring leadership is coming from underclassmen on the road, and that bodes well for a very experienced Pio team that should get more contribution from upperclassmen as the season goes on.

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