Denver women’s soccer finished their regular season on the road this week, beating South Dakota State 2-1 and South Dakota 2-0.
Denver found the net early in the first half against South Dakota State on Thursday, with a header from redshirt sophomore midfielder Hannah Tate, but the goal was called back for being offside.
The Crimson and Gold dominated for the rest of the half, outshooting the Jackrabbits 10 to five, but both teams failed to find the net. The first half ended in a 0-0 deadlock.
The floodgates opened in the 65th minute of the second half when sophomore midfielder Liv Moritz stole the ball in a dangerous position and converted it into a goal at the near post to put Denver up 1-0.
South Dakota State equalized quickly with a corner kick in the 69th minute. The corner was taken by graduate student defender Kaycee Manding and headed in across the goal by sophomore defender Ava Grate.
Denver wasted no time getting the lead back. Redshirt junior forward Payten Ivins got the ball from graduate student midfielder Vanessa Murray and made a run across the box. She took a shot across her body and buried it at the far post for the game-winner in the 74th minute.
The Jackrabbits had no response from there and the game ended 2-1 in favor of Denver.
The game against South Dakota on Sunday was all Denver from the start. They took five shots in the first 20 minutes of play.
The first goal came with a give-and-go in the 20th minute. Tate played a one-two with Mortiz who took the shot with one touch and put Denver up 1-0.
Denver had a big chance to go up by two in the 64th minute with a shot from senior midfielder Ella Frost that hit the post and Mortiz’s rebound that went over the crossbar.
Just seven minutes later, the Crimson and Gold found their second goal from sophomore forward Michaela McGowan who received the ball from senior midfielder Jadyn Goodrich at the top of the box and took a shot that found the near post to put Denver up 2-0.
Denver went on to close out the game at 2-0.
These two wins moved their record to 11-5-2, giving them the No. 2 seed and a first-round bye in the Summit League Tournament. Their semifinal game will be at a neutral location in Fargo, N.D. on Nov. 7 against the winner of South Dakota State vs. South Dakota.
