On Sunday, Oct. 22, the Women’s Soccer team hosted the Western Illinois Leathernecks for their Senior Day and Annual Pink Match. The Pioneers wore pink jerseys in recognition of October being Breast Cancer Awareness Month. DU clearly dominated the Leathernecks, with their defense holding the Leathernecks to seven shots total, while the Pioneers took 28 shots. Goals were scored by sophomore midfielder Hannah Adler (Oak Park, Calif.), freshman forward Macee Barlow (Las Vegas, NV), freshman midfielder Meg Halvorson (Englewood, Colo.), junior forward Leah Swander (Grand Junction, Colo.) and senior forward Jessie Dancy (Park City, Utah). With their win, the Pioneers secured a top four finish in the Summit League and will be playing in the Summit League Tournament on Nov. 2. They are currently ranked no.3 in the Summit League.
The Pioneers first goal came in the seventh minute, when Adler scored off of a mis-cleared ball by a Leatherneck defender. This is Adler’s ninth goal of the season, placing her second in Summit League scoring behind Dancy.
Barlow followed up Adler’s goal with one of her own in the 41st minute, shortly after subbing in Dancy. She was assisted by freshman defensive player Brittney Lewis (Centennial, Colo.). This is Barlow’s first goal of her collegiate career.
Halvorson scored her fifth goal of this season in the 44th minute, going through three defenders to put the Pioneers up 3-0.
In the second half, the Pioneers netted their fourth goal of the game in the 75th minute off a penalty shot from Swander. Swander was given the shot after getting pulled down in the box. The Pioneers followed it up with their fifth and final goal of the game in the 80th minute with a goal from senior Dancy, assisted by freshman midfielder Maya Roston (Newport Coast, Calif.). Dancy finished off of a blocked shot by Roston into an empty net.
Following her goal in Sunday’s game, Dancy leads the Summit League with 11 goals scored. The senior was honored following the game along with fellow seniors, Angelica Pacheco (Taos, N.M.), Riley Welch (Littleton, Colo.) and co-captain, Makenzie Bothner (Park City, Utah). Junior Hannah Bricker (Fort Collins, Colo.) was also honored, as she will be graduating early in the spring.
The seniors on the team have put together impressive stats during their four years. Bothner earned 2016 Summit League Defensive Player of the Year awards last year, while Dancy was the first player in DU’s Division I history to score five goals in the first six regular games of the season. Pacheco has played in 57 career matches with the Pioneers, starting 22 of them at forward, while Welch has played in 54 career matches with DU. In her three years with the team, Bricker has played in 33 games, starting 22 of them in a top ranked defense, as well as scoring her first goal this year in a free kick in Denver’s 3-0 over North Dakota State.
“I thought from both a defensive standpoint and an attacking standpoint, we played a great team game today, and that showed with five different players on the scoresheet this afternoon,” Head Coach Jeff Hooker said after the match. “We controlled the pace of the game well.”
After securing their spot in the Summit League Tournament, Hooker said ““You want to know you are in and not have any outside circumstances that you are counting on. To know that we are in and going to Fargo, we took care of our business and I’m happy with the day.”
The Pioneers will close out their 2017 regular season on Friday, Oct. 27 at Fort Wayne. Their post-season will begin on Nov. 2 with the start of the Summit League Tournament.
