Redemption was achieved on Sunday, Nov. 20 at CIBER Field as the No. 6 seeded DU Pioneers battled a 3-0 NCAA Tournament second round victory against the University of Nevada Las Vegas Rebels.
The junior class dominated Denver’s goal scoring with tallies from centerback Scott DeVoss (Centennial, Colorado), junior midfielder Alex Underwood (Winnetka, Illinois) and centerback Kortne Ford (Greeley, Colorado).
Following a scoreless first 45 minutes, DeVoss connected with a header off of a corner-kick taken by redshirt senior midfielder Karsten Hanlin (Centennial, Colorado) 10:07 into the second half. DeVoss’s goal marked his second of the season.
Underwood drilled a strike at 25-yards past UNLV’s keeper Enrique Adame to double DU’s lead 2-0 with 20 minutes left in regulation.The tally was the fifth conversion of the 2016 campaign for the winger.
Ford redirected a free-kick taken by Underwood, sailing a header past Adame to extend the Pioneers’ lead to three.
Denver outshot UNLV 18-3 in the first half, but missed an opportunity on penalty kick.
Denver combated the chippy match as UNLV committed 14 total fouls, including four yellow cards. The Pioneers managed to display composure, continuing to stick to the process they have since Head Coach Jamie Franks took control of the program in 2015.
“Their resiliency, their fight, their togetherness; they’re a special group,” Franks said. “I think I really do have a team that can win this tournament. Not many believe that when I say it, but nobody has ever believed in us. Now we have accomplished something that hasn’t happened in 38 years in college soccer; two back-to-back undefeated regular seasons. I’ve got a group of young men and a supportive staff. W know we can win this thing.”
The victory extended Denver’s unbeaten streak to 36 games. For the Pioneers, it was a fitting result that two centerbacks helped to deliver the win, erasing the previous pain from the season ending goal in 2015’s NCAA Tournament Second Round match against Southern Methodist University (SMU).
“It’s a big step for us. We always have that game [loss to SMU] kind of in the back of our head to learn from. But it’s a good stepping stone for us and we’re just taking it one game at a time. Now our focus is on next Saturday and we’re excited for that.”
Denver will host the NCAA Tournament Third Round welcoming the victor between the University of Washington and the University of New Mexico. Kickoff is scheduled for 5 p.m. at CIBER Field on Nov. 26.
