On April 17, the DU women’s soccer team beat University of Nebraska, Omaha 3-0 to become the Summit League conference champions. To get into the final game, DU beat South Dakota on April 15 in the tournament’s semifinal game.
Against South Dakota, Denver got off to a flying start with midfielder Kaitlyn Glover (Englewood, Colo.) scoring 12 minutes into the game. Forward Sydney Sharp (Palos Verdes Estates, Calif.) scored the second goal of the game 13 minutes later with Glover providing the assist. Forward Sami Feller (Grand Junction, Colo.) also played a terrific game by providing assists to both goals.
South Dakota was limited to only a single shot on goal thanks to a stalwart DU defense. This marks the seventh game this season where the defense has only allowed a maximum of one shot on goal. Denver finished the game with 5 shots on goal out of a total of 15 shots. This punched their ticket to the championship game, and it will be the program’s 15th trip to a conference final since becoming a Division I school.
In the championship game against Omaha, Denver picked up where they left off in the semifinals with another flying start. Glover scored only four minutes into the game on a cross from forward Natalie Beckman (Denver, Colo.).
Omaha had two chances to tie the game, but they were caught offside on one attempt. Goalkeeper Nerea Arrazola (Issaquah, Wash.) was able to gather a dangerous rebound on Omaha’s second attempt. Five minutes from halftime, DU extended their lead as Feller scored the team’s second.
To finish the game off, Sharp scored the final goal nine minutes after halftime to make the final score 3-0. DU once again held their opponent to only one shot on goal to become the Summit League conference champions.
Sharp, Glover, Beckman, Feller and Arrazola were all named to the All-Tournament team, with Glover also being named Summit League Tournament MVP. The title is Denver’s fourth since 2013 when it joined the Summit League and its 11th since becoming a Division I program.
The team will play Loyola Chicago in the first round of the NCAA tournament on April 27 at 1 p.m. MST.
