Women’s soccer head coach Jeff Hooker tallied his 300th DU win on Friday when the Pioneers shut out New Mexico State University 3-0 at the NMSU Soccer Complex, adding another milestone to a coaching career stretching back to 1992.
“It’s huge for the program,” said junior forward Kristen Hamilton of Hooker’s win total. “It just shows what a good coach he is and how good he is at recruiting players that work well together. He’s kept this program so big.”
Hooker, who also coached the men’s soccer program in 1996 and 1997, tallied 280 of the 300 wins with the women’s soccer program and is Denver’s longest-tenured active coach.
“The support [from the athletic department] has been absolutely fantastic,” said Hooker. “They have allowed us to go out and do what we need to get done, schedule the teams we need to schedule, recruit where we need to recruit. They really let us go out and do our job.”
After Friday’s shutout, the Pioneers now sit at 10-1-4 this season and 2-0-2 in conference play. The team currently ranks third in the Western Athletic Conference, behind only defending WAC champions Utah State (9-2-6, 4-0-2 WAC) and Louisiana Tech (12-1-3, 3-0-1 WAC).
The victory was a welcome change of pace from the team’s recent string of ties, according to both Hamilton and Hooker. In their past two conference matchups, the Pioneers tied Louisiana Tech 1-1 on Oct. 5 and Utah State 0-0 on Sept. 30.
“It was a big win for us, getting back on track with the wins instead of the ties,” said Hamilton. “We went out and played really well, and it was a team effort. They were really rough with us, but I think we did a good job not playing down to their level.”
Hamilton led the Pioneers with five points against NMSU (2-10-3, 0-3-1 WAC) on Friday, scoring the team’s first two goals off assists from senior forward Kalie Vaughn and junior midfielder Stephanie Woo, then adding an assist to senior forward Katy Van Lieshout in the 56th minute.
Hamilton’s goals, which came in the 26th and 31st minutes of the first half, sent Denver into halftime with a solid cushion. With 10 goals and three assists so far this season, Hamilton leads the WAC in points, points per game, goals and goals per game.
“Getting two goals in the first half was a great luxury on the road,” said Hooker. “I think we played 20 different players. We have a lot of depth that allowed us to keep fresh legs out and stay on top of the game.”
Denver outshot NMSU 13-8 during the contest, holding a 6-3 advantage in corner kicks.
Including Friday’s victory, the Pioneers have recorded seven shutouts this season behind the efforts of goalkeepers Lara Campbell and Maria Khan. According to Hooker, recording a shutout requires a lot of good soccer happening in front of the goalkeeper.
“It takes a lot of focus from both the keepers and the defense,” said Campbell. “You go through phases in the game where we get a lot of action and then we don’t, so it’s just making sure you’re playing your best every minute of the game.”
Looking forward, Denver is preparing to host Texas–San Antonio and Texas State on Friday and Sunday, respectively, in its final two home contests of the regular season. Sunday’s contest against the Bobcats will be senior night for the team’s graduating players.
The coaching staff and the team are focused on the four remaining games of the regular season, but Hooker acknowledged the importance of the team’s accomplishments so far.
“We’ve had a lot of good things happen this season as a team, and there have been individual things, whether it’s Kristen [Hamilton] scoring a hat trick against Portland or the shutouts we’ve been getting or this milestone for myself, the team has just kept focused,” said Hooker.
