Denver men’s soccer (10-7-2, 4-1-1) hosted the University of Missouri Kansas City Roos Saturday afternoon in the Summit League Tournament championship. The trophy and a trip to the NCAA tournament were on the line, and in their final game in the Summit League with DU heading to the West Coast Conference next season, the Pioneers used an early goal and a pair of penalty kicks by Kyle McGowan to fuel the 4-2 win and avenge last year’s championship game loss to these same Roos.

Barely a minute into the contest, Denver’s Keegan Kelly was on the long end of a lead pass from Aiden Semelsberger. Keegan was left one-on-one with the UMKC keeper, Marc Papow, and pushed the ball high into the net, 1-0, at 1:15 of the first half.

20 minutes later, DU’s Trevor Wright was called for a foul in the box. UMKC’s Jeremy Francou beat DU keeper Isaac Nahme to the right corner of the goal on the PK, 1-1.

With 10 minutes remaining in the first half, DU found their way into the box, and a holding call on Guille Munoz earned DU a PK of their own. Kyle McGowan tucked the kick into the right corner of the cage, 2-1, DU.

Both teams created scoring chances in the first half. Shots and shots-on-goal were even, 5-2, respectively. UMKC had 4 corners to 2 for the Pioneers. Two yellow cards were given to DU and one to UMKC as the game was called tightly and unevenly.

Denver opened the second half on the front foot when Bryce Willoughby sent a rocket left of the goal. Ten minutes later, UMKC’s Kenny Yedmel pulled down a Denver player 25 yards from the goal. The subsequent direct kick by Ian Welsh missed the goal, tight to the right. Denver kept pushing into the box when DU’s Will King sent a twisting line drive into the net, 3-1. Shortly thereafter, DU was fouled in the box and Kyle McGowan made the Roos pay, 4-1, with his second PK tally. UMKC was awarded a goal when Jeremy Francou and a DU player dove at a low ball in the box and the carom found its way into goal, 4-2, at 73:15. Denver started to play in the back half of the field, giving the Roos chances, with one shot finding the top post but the Roos could not solve keeper Isaac Nehme. The match ended 4-2.

The NCAA selection show is 11:00 am on Monday, when the Pioneers will be assigned their next opponent. It’s unlikely that DU will earn a first-round bye, but hosting their first-round opponent is very much a possibility.