DU men’s soccer (7-0-4, 2-0) played the St. Thomas Tommies at Pioneer Field Saturday afternoon. (3-5-2, 0-3). It felt like a matter of time until the Pioneers unleashed their formidable offense. following a mere three goals in their last three games. The  Saturday sun-drenched alumni-day match was the perfect setting for DU players and fans. Two goals in the first half and another goal early in the opening minutes of the second half extinguished any hope for the visitors as they fell 5-0.

Oje Ofunrein got DU on the board at 19:18 of the first half. The Pioneers were generating numerous chances in the half but had to wait another 20 minutes when Tyler Schommer found the back of the net. Denver went into the halftime break leading, 2-0. Denver dominated play, outshooting St. Thomas 11-1 and generating 5 corner kicks to 1.

DU redshirt freshman Ian Welsh stuck early in the second half (46:18) on an assist from sophomore Schommer. Schommer struck again six minutes later when he broke into the box and pushed the ball past keeper Moritz Krenc to put the Pioneers up 4-0.  Sam Bassett capped the scoring spree on a feed from Ian Smith and a nifty dribble-and-shoot into goal to grow the final margin, to 5-0.

DU keeper Issac Nehme held the visitors at bay for the first 71:37 and Jake Morris came in for mop-up duty and faced no shots. For the game, Denver generated 24 shots, 14 on target to dominate the Tommy’s. Denver finished with 8 corners to 1 for the Tommy’s.

There is little rest for Denver as they jump on a plane Sunday to Pittsburg and face the #3 Pitt Panthers (9-1, 4-0 Atlantic Coast) in a critical non-conference match  Monday evening at 5:00 pm MT. A win or tie by Denver on the road is likely to protect their current #1 national ranking.