The University of Denver women’s soccer team ended Tuesday’s NCAA game against Loyola Chicago with a 3-1 victory. This is the team’s first NCAA tournament game win in nine years.
In the first half, Loyola Chicago got on the board in just 41 seconds from a corner kick. Loyola’s sophomore Olivia Knab (Chandler, Ariz.) played the set piece from sophomore goalkeeper Nerea Arrazola’s (Issaquah, Wash.). It went right onto the head of junior Abby Swanson (Downers Grove, Ill.), who then put the ball in the back of the net. However, this became Arrazola’s career-high game with eight saves.
DU quickly came back with a sense of urgency to tie the game, courtesy of junior forward Sami Feller (Grand Junction, Colo.). Junior forward, Natalie Beckman (Denver, Colo.), played a set piece from the right corner flag to start the sequence. Feller got on the end of the initial set piece, which was blocked in front. Sophomore forward, Sydney Sharp (Palos Verdes Estates, Calif.), made an effort at the rebound, but her shot was cleared off the line by a defender. Feller headed home Sharp’s rebound for the middle of the first-half leveler.
By the end of the match, DU came back from a 1-0 deficit to pull out a commanding 3-1 win in the first-round game. Sami Feller, Sydney Sharp and sophomore midfielder Kaitlyn Glover (Englewood, Colo.) contributed to DU’s victory and DU Women’s Soccer’s first NCAA Tournament win since making the Sweet 16 in 2012.
Coach Jeff Hooker said that this win showed off the team’s hard work after this tough year.
“When I step back and take a look at this match, it’s very similar to how I was feeling at the conference tournament. I wanted this really badly for our players, so they have something to show for everything they’ve had to go through this year,” said Coach Hooker.
Surprisingly, the coach stated that the team had not discussed winning. Their main goal was supporting one another and playing well.
“We haven’t talked about winning all year. We’ve talked about putting our head down, playing well, staying safe for your teammates and supporting each other. For us, winning the Summit League Tournament was amazing, but today was even better,” said Coach Hooker.
This ended up being the team’s second-to-last game after their loss to North Carolina 2-0 in the NCAA second round on Friday. The team ended this season with resilience and many wins, including their Summit League championship last week.
