On the northwest corner of High Street and Asbury Avenue, a one-story stucco home sits across the street from the University of Denver. A yard sign was often posted in the front yard proclaiming ‘Game Day’, reminding students and the community that a DU athletic team was playing at home that day or night.
Continue reading Steve Fisher Epitomized ‘Game Day’ at the University of Denver
Look, there’s no two ways about it. Blowing a 3-0 lead to your archrival and giving up five straight goals along the way is embarrassing. Add in the fact that the #4 Denver Pioneers (14-4-0, 4-4-0 NCHC) had zero regulation wins in nearly a month, the blown lead and loss stung even more. So, a night later, with game two of the home-and-home series with the #10 Colorado College Tigers (10-5-1, 4-3-1 NCHC) and the last game before the three-week holiday break looming, the vibes were terrible and the pressure was immense. Was DU’s season on the line already in mid-December? Fortunately, Cale Ashcroft’s game-winning goal five and a half minutes into the third period prevented that question from needing to be answered as the Pioneers held on to earn the 2-1 win and split the first Gold Pan series of the season. Continue reading Pioneers Bounce Back from Blown Lead to Earn Gold Pan Split
The Pioneer faithful expected the Gold Pan rivalry to pull the #4 Pioneers out of their mid-season slump after DU lost three of their four previous games. Denver traveled to Colorado Springs Friday evening and built a comfortable lead over #10 CC in the first period, 2-0, following a pair of short-handed goals by Samu Salminen. The shorthanded goals were just the elixer that Denver needed, right?
Wrong. Continue reading Five Consecutive Goals by Colorado College Drop DU, 5-4
In Brazil they call soccer ‘the beautiful game‘. However, it can be a cruel game too, with paper-thin margins. #3 Denver was the best team (statistically) on the field Friday night in the College Cup semifinal between the Pioneers and Vermont Catamounts but it was not to be for Denver men’s soccer in Cary, North Carolina. A crossbar shot, a missed first-half Catamounts handball in the box, a close non-offside call on Vermont’s only regulation goal and numerous missed scoring chances by the Pioneers led to the deciding penalty shots. That is not to say Vermont did not have chances of their own, particularly in the second half of the match, as both sides created scoring opportunities to end the match in regulation. Shootouts are a game of roulette and Denver came up short. Continue reading DU Falls to Vermont in PKs, College Cup Run Ends in Semis Again
DU faces the University of Vermont in the 2024 College Cup Semifinal at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, North Carolina. Opening kickoff is set for 5 p.m. ET/3 p.m. MT, and the game will be broadcast on ESPNU and ESPN+. Here is everything you want to know about Vermont and the University of Vermont soccer:
America East Conference winner in 2024 with 7 total conference titles
Bridges that are covered are popular tourist attractions
Catamounts is their nickname Continue reading Vermont A to Z: 26 Things to Know Before Friday’s College Cup Semifinal
DU men’s basketball played the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs (UCCS) at Hamilton Gym Tuesday night. Denver rode a torrid offensive first half, shooting 51.5% from the floor and 7-13 (54%) from three-point range to take a 49-35 halftime lead. The Mountain Lions clawed their way back into the game in the second half. In the final five minutes, DU’s lead was carved to four points but each time Denver responded with a run of their own. A three-point make by DeAndre Craig in the final minute-and-a-half finished off the scoring and the game ended 94-87 DU. Continue reading Early Success Pushes Denver Past UCCS, 94-87
The University of Denver’s current $11 million budget shortfall has made the news recently. The shortfall and proposed budget cuts were covered extensively by the campus newspaper, The Clarion, and, more broadly, The Denver Post. As we have written in the past, the University, as a private school, is highly dependent on tuition dollars (about 80%) for its operations. Additionally, demographic trends show a shrinking pool of college entrants nationally, due in part to a declining birth rate. DU’s enrollment peaked in 2022 with 13,815 overall students and has been declining since then. The projected enrollment for DU’s 2025 fiscal year is 12,043 students, 10% lower than Fall 2023’s enrollment. Continue reading Budget Shortfall a Time for Solutions, Not Infighting
It’s a fascinating time to be a DU basketball fan. This season’s team (5-6) was always going to rely on guard play. However, the talented and youthful backcourt assembled by the coaching staff was going to be backstopped by a formidable front line – two seven footers, a 6’9″ Polish National Team member and veteran Pedro Lopez Sanvicente (6’9″). At this point in non-conference play, Sanvicente is the last man standing (for now) and the coaching staff must mix and match lineups, problem-solve, coach and develop players on the fly. Continue reading Denver Earns Scrappy Road Win Over Portland State 68-67
The #2 Denver Pioneers (13-3-0, 3-3-0 NCHC) may not have found their offensive footing but they found two important goals in game two in Kalamazoo when they needed them most. After skating to a 1-1 tie with the #7 Western Michigan Broncos (10-3-1, 6-1-1 NCHC) after two periods, the Pioneers found themselves down 2-1 in the waning minutes. With his own net empty, Samu Salminen fired a pass from Boston Buckberger past a stout Hampton Slukynsky to tie the game with just over a minute left. Captain Carter King won it nearly three minutes into three-on-three overtime with a beauty of a five-hole shot after turning on the jets on a breakaway. Continue reading Pioneers Battle Back for OT Split at Western Michigan with Extra-Skater & OT Goals
On a sun-drenched December Saturday afternoon, #3 seed Denver Men’s Soccer (14-3-4) faced the UMass-Amherst Minutemen at Pioneer Field in the NCAA Tournament Quarterfinals. A standing-room-only crowd sat, perched, and stood around Pioneer Field to witness a nearly flawless, 3-0 DU victory which earned DU its second-ever College Cup berth. Continue reading College Cup Bound – Denver Men’s Soccer Crushes UMass-Amherst 3-0
