Seven fall athletic seasons are officially underway; here’s what’s happened so far this season in University of Denver athletics.
Women’s Soccer
It has been a pendulum of a season so far for the women’s soccer squad, but they have found success. In their first four regular season games of the season, they tied each opponent, and defeated their next four opponents to start 4-0-4 this season. So far, it has been freshman midfielder Liv Moritz who has led the way offensively with five goals and four assists in nine appearances. Moritz is also on the DU ski team, so this is a name to keep an eye on during the entire DU athletic season. Another freshman, Molly Wissman is keeping the back of the net ball-free so far this season. The goalkeeper from Santa Fe, New Mexico has started in all nine games this season and has made 21 saves while only allowing 12 goals.
The squad hosted their first game with students back in class Friday night, against the No. 22 University of Colorado. In a game full of PK’s and momentum busting penalties, the Buffaloes came out on top of the Crimson and Gold 3-1 to avoid the upset. Graduate midfielder Kaitlyn Glover scored the only goal for DU at the 59-minute mark off a penalty kick.
After losing their first game of the season, the women’s soccer team will look to start their success in Summit League play with their first test against Oral Roberts on Sept. 23. The game will be at home at 7 p.m.
Men’s Soccer
The men’s soccer squad is off to a great start this season. They, too, did not lose any of their first six games and started 4-0-2, their biggest win coming against the former no. 11 ranked SMU. Junior forward Oje Ofunrein, who only had two goals last season, has smashed his career high and is leading this team offensively. Ofunrein and scoring goals has been a common combination, and he is tied for the lead in the country with seven goals as of Sept. 14. Ofunrein was named National Player of the Week last week by NCAA Digital after recording a hat trick against UC San Diego. Sophomore goalkeeper Isaac Nehme has continued his success in his second year with the squad. Last year’s Summit League Newcomer of the Year has started in all seven games, made 18 saves and only allowed seven goals. DU finally cracked the top 25 rankings and was ranked No. 14 heading into their next contest.
The men’s soccer team had their second biggest test this season when they traveled to Oregon Friday night to take on the No.11 ranked Portland. Junior midfielder Sam Bassett netted a brace in the contest, scoring both of the Denver goals, but the Pilots offense was too strong for the Crimson and Gold. Two late goals in the 77 and 79-minute mark lifted Portland to a 4-2 win and handed DU their first loss of the season.
They will look to bounce back with two more games on the road in the against Seattle University on Monday and Summit League opponent St. Thomas on Saturday. Saturday’s contest begins at 11 a.m. and is available to stream on the Summit League Network.
Women’s Triathlon
The women’s triathlon season is officially underway, and Denver’s team has competed in two competitions so far. The squad competed in a dual on DU’s campus against Colorado Mesa University on Sept. 2 and dominated, winning 60-43. An impressive showing was led by freshman Alex Campbell, who took home the top individual spot in her first collegiate competition. Junior Clara Normand finished third, sophomore Elizabeth Harita finished fourth, and graduate student Maren York finished fifth.
The squad then traveled to Fort Worth, Texas to take part in the Battle in the Fort Triathlon, hosted by Texas Christian University on Sunday. DU finished fourth out of the six-team field while the host TCU took the top team spot. Campbell led the way again with a seventh place finish, and the next closest finisher was junior Olivia Ebenstein, who was five spots behind her in 12th place.
Denver’s next competition is at the Black Hills Collegiate Cup on Oct. 1. The team will travel to South Dakota to take part in a Team Relays competition on Sept. 31 and will then compete in the Black Hills State University hosted competition the following day.
Women’s Volleyball
The DU women’s volleyball season has started and the first seven games have not been ideal for the squad. In the first six games of the season, the Crimson and Gold only won one set en route to a 0-6 start. They competed in two tournaments, the UCSB and the UCSD Tournament and were unable to gather a victory in either. Graduate student and Baylor University transfer Cassie Davis is leading the team offensively with 88.5 points and an astounding 73 kills.
But the 0-6 start mentality did not fluster the DU squad in their home opener against Idaho State Thursday afternoon as they swept the Bengals 3-0. Davis had a team-high 10 kills, and also added an ace and two blocks to her great game. Graduate middle-blocker Cadi Boyer recorded a team-high six aces and also added five blocks and eight kills to her outstanding match.
The team then traveled to Boulder on Sunday to take on CU in an out of conference matchup and ultimately fell 1-3 to the Buffaloes. Denver captured the first set 25-20, but could not claw back to get another set under their tally. Senior middle blocker and transfer from Purdue Fort Wayne Molly Mirabelli led the way offensively with 14 kills and eight blocks.
Summit League action for Denver volleyball starts on Thursday with a home matchup against the University of North Dakota. The squad will look to get their second win of the season in Hamilton Gymnasium at 6 p.m.
Women’s Tennis
The women’s tennis team competed in their first tournament this past weekend and kicked off their fall season. DU joined 10 other squads at the Bedford Cup in Colorado Springs, hosted by Air Force in a tournament-style competition. The Bedford Cup featured different draws for the singles events meaning that everyone did not compete in one big singles tournament, along with just one draw for the doubles side of the tournament.
On the doubles side, DU’s farthest advancing duo was graduate student Britt Pursell and junior Andrea Burguete Beltran who advanced to the quarter final stage of the doubles tournament. They would fall to the eventual champs from the University of Wyoming, 5-7.
On the singles side, DU found much more success. In the Alpha draw of the tournament, both Pursell and Beltran advanced to the finals match which guaranteed a DU player would come out with the individual victory. Pursell defeated Beltran in the first set 6-4, but Beltran would surge in the second and third sets to claim the singles title. In the Charlie draw of the tournament, sophomore Caroline Driscoll also advanced to the finals of her draw and defeated Joana Baptista of Boise State in straight sets to win a singles title. Finally, sophomore Anatasia Simonov captured the third singles title for DU and defeated fellow freshman Karsyn Evans in straight sets in the Echo draw.
The team will travel to Waco, Texas in a couple of weeks to compete in the Baylor Invite hosted by Baylor University. First round action will start on Sept. 29 and conclude on Oct. 1.
Women’s Golf
The women’s golf fall season is officially underway and the squad traveled last week to New Mexico to compete in their first tournament of the season. 15 other collegiate squads joined DU at the Dick McGuire Invitational last week, and DU finished tied for 10th in the 16-team field. Junior Emma Bryant and graduate student Anna Zanusso led the way for the Crimson and Gold finishing four over par over the three rounds. Zanusso had an impressive second and third round, scoring one under par each round which helped her move up 10 spots on the individual leaderboard.
The team will travel this week to Nashville, Tennessee to take part in the Mason Rudolph Invitational hosted by Vanderbilt University. Round one action starts on Friday, and round three action will conclude on Sunday.
Men’s Golf
The men’s golf season has not officially started yet, but the squad will be competing in their first tournament of the season on Sept. 18 in the Howard/USF Intercollegiate. The team will be in San Francisco and action concludes Tuesday afternoon.
