On home turf, DU commenced Summit League play to take on the Oral Roberts Golden Eagles, winning 1-0.
It was clear from the beginning of the match: The women’s soccer team was hungry for a win after falling short against the University of Colorado Buffaloes, 1-3.
One of Denver’s star players, freshman forward Liv Mortiz, left everything on the field which ended up leading to her collapse and injury, so Mortiz was out for the rest of the first half. As one of the top scorers on the team, Mortiz’s hightailed energy was missed, but the Crimson and Gold made sure to not let her time off the field for the first off be in vain.
Denver made haste to have a header off graduate defender Hannah Gallegos with 38 minutes remaining in the first half, to no avail, however. The Crimson and Gold did not let this slow their roll, and when the Golden Eagles came back looking for an opening, the defensive line and freshman goalkeeper Molly Wissman didn’t entertain this idea in the slightest, cutting off any shot on goal they might have had.
Denver was furious at this attempt, and after Wissman punted to the offensive line, sophomore midfielder Lily O’Grady took her chance and sped to the goal for a pin-point cross. Junior midfielder Riley Baker saw an opening, and with cat-like senses, she headed the ball straight into the left corner of the goal, bringing Denver ahead in the 16th minute of play.
This revolutionized the DU gameplay with a burning desire for a shutout, and junior midfielder Samantha Dreiling took this in stride. You could almost see the turf burning behind her after a direct breakaway straight to the goal, but the Oral Roberts defensive line came in clutch to stop it.
After the halftime mark, Denver did not let the field switch change their play at all, as the Crimson and Gold made the same push forward directly after the whistle blew.
Wissman, who was enjoying a relaxed defensive position this game, kept up a devilish sprint to the ball to save, once again, any chance ORU had at tying the score. The communication between Wissman and her backline led ORU to only one shot on goal with 35 minutes remaining in play.
Graduate midfielder Kaitlyn Glover would not let up, and after an unhesitating breakaway from the Crimson and Gold, Glover took her shot into the low left of the goal, which would have been a phenomenal way to maintain their lead had it not been ruled offsides.
This only further sparked Denver to push for more during the last 20 minutes of the game, where Baker had an incredible steal looking straight for the goal and passed to Dreiling, who shot just left of the goal.
Wissman made an incredible save inside of her goalie box, pouncing onto the ball to save it from going in. Wissman punted at a speed that not even lightning could catch, where freshman forward Michaela McGowan utilized her momentum to drive the ball forward. Junior forward Delaney McGowan had adrenaline rushing through her veins as she sped away straight into the goal. She fired a shot that went right over as a save from the ORU goalie.
Towards the end of the match, most of the time was spent in Denver’s offensive end and the crowd’s reaction to just-missed chances became repetitious. In the end, though, Denver came out victorious, 1-0.
The Crimson and Gold will be traveling to St. Paul, Minnesota to compete against the St. Thomas Bobcats on Thursday, Sept. 28, looking to maintain their dominating status in Summit League play.
