The no. 9 ranked University of Denver men’s soccer team faced a tough opponent on Friday when they went up against the no. 13 University of Portland Pilots in a heated contest that ended in a 0-0 draw. 1,552 Denver fans packed the University of Denver Soccer Stadium and watched the second home match of the season.
Denver came into the match with a 4-1-2 record on the season with signature wins against top 10 ranked Maryland and top 25 ranked Grand Canyon. They faced a challenging opponent in the Portland Pilots, who were unbeaten on the season with a 3-0-2 record.
DU dominated the majority of the first half, outshooting Portland five shots to one. They also tested the Portland goalkeeper early. Sophomore midfielder Sam Bassett (Littleton, CO) registered a quality chance off the crossbar at the 21-minute mark. Portland stood strong defensively and only allowed three more shots for the rest of the half.
1,552 fans packed the stands at the University of Denver Soccer Stadium on Friday. (C. Morgan Engel/Clarkson Creative Photography)The Crimson and Gold produced some offense at the start of the second half, with a shot at the 46-minute mark from junior midfielder Ben Smith (Centennial, CO). The defense made key stops throughout to help keep the score 0-0. Freshman goalkeeper Issac Nehme (Colorado Springs, CO) helped make two straight saves at the 53-minute mark that proved to be clutch as the Pilots would not record another quality scoring chance for the rest of the half. Nehme finished with 3 saves in the match.
Both teams though started to take a more aggressive stance. A scrum broke out at around the 65-minute mark and the referee had to separate players from both teams. A player from Portland shoved a DU defender, and several players from both teams joined the altercation to defend one another. One yellow card was given out to Portland after this scrum, and a combined nine yellow cards were given out in the second half. Denver now has 16 yellow cards on the season through seven games.
DU finished the match with two corner kicks in the last 20 minutes of the match and a total of five corner kicks for the match.
The Crimson and Gold will look to register a tally into the win category in their next matchup against Oregon State. They will take on the Beavers on September 20 at 7:00 p.m. at the University of Denver Soccer Stadium.
