The DU women’s soccer team celebrated their seniors Sunday afternoon at Denver soccer stadium and dominantly defeated South Dakota 3-1. With the win, DU still sits in first place in the Summit League with only three more regular season games to go.
DU controlled the first nine minutes of the contest and utilized their early momentum grasp to get on the board first. Junior forward Samantha Dreiling took the ball near midfield, marched closer to the 18-yard box, weaved through two defenders and blasted a ball into the left side of the cage for her second goal of the season.
DU continued to dominate, controlling possession until the 18-minute mark when South Dakota scored their first goal of the game. Luckily for the Crimson and Gold, the goal was ruled offside, and the lead was still in favor of DU.
Minutes later, with a lead ball sent to midfield, Graduate Student midfielder Kaitlyn Glover dribbled to the 18-yard box and sent it to the bottom corner scoring her sixth goal of the year, assisted by Dreiling.
The tides switched as the Coyotes subbed in three pairs of fresh legs in the 28th minute and got their own momentum going, which cut DU’s lead in half at the 40-minute mark.
With seconds left in the first half, freshman forward Michaela McGowan used her speed to try for one last push but was unable to score, ending the half 2-1.
The first half was overall one-sided and DU had 11 shot attempts compared to South Dakota’s five.
DU quickly went back to their domination, until the 56th minute where South Dakota subbed seven new players in. This led to a momentum switch with the Coyotes taking multiple shots on net, forcing freshman goalie Molly Wissman to make spectacular saves.
The score stayed 2-1, looking like it could be either team’s game until the 63rd minute when junior midfielder Riley Baker scored an electric goal, juking out the goalkeeper and squeezing it in between the Coyote defender to secure DU’s lead.
The Coyotes worked their way down the field to muster one last chance at a comeback minutes later, but the side referees waved them offsides, ruining another scoring opportunity.
As the 90th minute got closer DU showcased a masterclass in clock-chewing, allowing the whistles to go off in a 3-1 victory.
The women’s squad looks to remain undefeated in conference play in their final regular season home game of the year against Kansas City, this Thursday at 5:30 p.m. The game is also available to stream on the Summit League Network.
