DU women’s soccer returned home after a fruitful four-game road trip where they went 3-1 and continued their winning ways by easily handling the Kansas City Roos in a 6-1 victory to remain unbeaten in league play. DU was dominant from start to finish, outclassing Kansas City with 21 shots in total, including 11 shots on goal.

It took a little while for DU to cash in on their chances, but once they did, the goals came at a furious rate.  

“The thing I mentioned to the team at halftime was I thought it was a little bit frustrating because we had a lot of chances and we weren’t hitting the back of the net; but once we got one, things kept rolling,” said Coach Jeff Hooker. 

Denver had six shot attempts before scoring their first goal. Scored by senior midfielder Sami Feller (Grand Junction, Colo.), the goal was set up by a nice feed from senior forward and passing savant Natalie Beckman (Denver, Colo.), an assist that tied the school record. Sophomore defender Jordan Crockett (Park City, Utah.) also tallied an assist on the Feller goal. 

Beckman surpassed the former record after another assist on junior forward Sydney Sharp’s (Palos Verdes Estates, Cali.) 10th goal of the season. After the game, Beckman called Sharp, the team’s leading goal scorer, a “scoring machine.” Junior defender Hannah Gallegos (Los Ranchos, N.M.) also picked up an assist on the goal.

Beckman was humble in breaking the record, talking about how great of a player the previous record holder, Nicholette DiGiacomo, was.

“Nicholette was an amazing player; to pass her was crazy—she was an insane player,” said Beckman.

Coach Hooker said that Beckman has “had a great season this year and has been close to unstoppable in some of the games.” He continued, saying that “the work [Beckman] puts in during the season and in the offseason is second to none.”

That goal from Sharp was the first of three goals in a five-minute span to end the half. Sophomore forward Mckenna Dannenhauer (Littleton, Colo.) would strike next, scoring on a feed from none other than Natalie Beckman, giving Beckman three assists in the half. DU was not done, with sophomore midfielder Vanessa Murray (Glenview, Ill.) scoring with two seconds left in the half. Dannenhauer would make it on the scoresheet again, this time with the assist to Murray.

The game was more or less decided by halftime, but that didn’t stop either team from giving an effort. In the second half, Denver would score two more times, and Kansas City prevented the shutout late. Junior midfielder Kaitlyn Glover (Englewood, Colo.) and Dannenhauer scored for Denver.

Coach Hooker said that the game was a “very good team performance. We got a lot of players in the game, and we got goals from different players.”

To see the women’s soccer team in action again, come out and support the squad Friday, Oct. 29, when they play South Dakota.