Hockey, Men's Basketball, Men's Soccer, Women's Soccer

Summit Recap: DU Men’s Soccer Finds Scoring Touch, Women’s Teams Struggle

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DU Men’s Soccer entered the Summit League Tournament defending well but struggling to score goals. Denver failed to score more than two goals in a match the entire season. It looked like a repeat on Sunday when DU trailed #4 seed Oral Roberts 1-0 on a late first-half goal by the Golden Eagles’ Jeff Mesidor (penalty kick). The scoreless drought carried over 16 minutes into the second half as the playoff crowd implored the Pioneers to push forward more aggressively. Denver started to play on the Golden Eagles’ side of the field. Bryce Willoughby delivered a goal on a corner kick from Trevor Wright, 1-1. A minute and a half later, a running Keegan Kelly directed a header into the cage, 2-1, DU. Denver started to play out of the back and isolate the ORU defenders. Keegan Kelly struck again, twenty minutes after his first goal, on a target from distance, 3-1. Two minutes later, Kelly made it a three-goal barrage with a close-in tally, 4-1.

DU played ‘knockout football’ Sunday by playing on their front foot, pushing the ball forward more aggressively and moving the ball more quickly to increase the volume of scoring chances.

Denver faces #2 seed UMKC at Pioneer Field next Saturday at 3:00 pm MT, with the winner going to the NCAA Tournament.

After finishing in a tie for the Summit League (9-5-4, 6-1-1) regular season title, #2 seed Denver women’s soccer fell to South Dakota State, 1-0, in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The conference tournament semifinal loss brought a sudden end to the season. Historically, Denver women’s soccer dominated the Summit League until recent seasons against the same SDSU. The Jackrabbits have won three conference championships in a row. Overall,  head coach Julianne Sitch has done a good job. However, recruiting and scoring must improve if Denver is going to compete near the top of the WCC next season. Denver is ranked 185th nationally in scoring (1.28 gpg.), putting too much pressure on their back line.

DU women’s volleyball (15-10, 7-7) continues to struggle in the latter half of the season.  A road swing to St Thomas (1-3) and Omaha (0-3) delivered a pair of losses. St. Thomas’ front line hammered DU with 58 kills and held DU to a .158 hitting percentage. Omaha swept the Pioneers (3-0), despite tightly contested sets, as the skid continued. A .194 hitting percentage was the difference in that match as DU failed to match Omaha’s scoring at the end of sets.

The volleyball team returns to Hamilton Gym Thursday night to close out their home slate against ORU at 6:00 pm MT. Then, DU travels to Kansas City next Saturday at 11:00 am MT against UMKC to complete their regular season.

Elsewhere…We told you about the incredible performance of DU hockey in the Western Michigan sweep at Kalamazoo. It is now ‘CC Week’ as this year’s Battle for the Gold Pan begins Friday night at Magness Arena. DU men’s hoops secured their first win against Montana State, which marked new head coach Tim Bergstraser’s first Division I victory. Women’s Triathlon completed their national championships in Arizona and finished a disappointing 7th among D1 schools, their worst finish at nationals since adding the sport. While sophomore star Maira Carreau finished a strong fourth, DU must reload and add more depth and talent.

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