The Denver men’s soccer team won both of their games this week, beating Kansas City 2-1 at home during their senior night and then went away to Oral Roberts and won 1-0.
The two wins earned them the Summit League regular season title and a spot in the conference final championship game.
Denver opened Wednesday’s game against Kansas City on the attack. Their first chance came in just the fourth minute with a tight pass from junior defender Dylan Akau to redshirt sophomore forward Bryce Willoughby whose shot was saved and then cleared from the goal-line.
The Crimson and Gold opened the scoring in the 20th minute with a run down the right side of the box from redshirt senior midfielder Ben Smith, who fired it in front of goal. It was finished off by Willoughby to make the score 1-0.
Denver had another big chance in the 31st minute. Akau made a run down the right wing and almost chipped the Kansas City goalkeeper, but his shot hit the crossbar.
In the 40th minute, Kansas City had their biggest chance yet. Julien Le Bourdoulous took the freekick and curled it to the inside of the post. It bounced around in the box but was cleared by Denver to keep their 1-0 lead.
Denver extended their lead to 2-0 early in the second half. Senior midfielder Sam Bassett fed the ball to Ben Smith outside of the box who fired a knuckling shot that hit the crossbar and found the net in the 52nd minute. This senior night goal for Smith was his first of the season.
Kansas City looked to fight back on the attack. They crossed the ball into a dangerous area and Somolinos Bravo Fernando headed the ball towards the corner. Denver junior goalkeeper Isaac Nehme made a diving save to deflect the ball off the post in the 69th minute.
In the following minute, Kansas City came back down the field, and this time found the goal. Ales Kohoutek sent a cross into the box and Hector Taboada headed the ball towards goal and deflected from Nehme’s hand and into the goal.
The Roos made one final push down the field with the clock running out and won a corner. They sent in a cross which wreaked chaos in the box but was cleared off the line and into the face of a waiting ballboy for another corner.
Off that corner, Kansas City found the back of the net, but the time ran out as the shot traveled toward goal. The referee blew the whistle for full-time, not counting the goal. Kansas City players and coaches swarmed the referee while Denver left the field to begin their senior night festivities. The game ended 2-1.
Saturday’s game at Oral Roberts started evenly, with both teams having dangerous chances in the first half. Denver took four shots in the first 25 minutes, but none found the net.
Oral Roberts had a big chance from a corner in the 27th minute. Juan Moreno was open in the middle of the box and took a powerful header towards goal. Nehme was able to deflect it off the crossbar and the ball was cleared.
Denver was aggressive to start the second half. Redshirt junior forward Ian Smith got to the end line and found senior forward Oje Ofunrein, but his shot hit the post and went out of bounds in the 55th minute.
Denver finally broke the scoring in the 61st minute. Redshirt senior defender Ronan Wynne made a deep cross from the right side, which took a bounce in the box and was smashed into the back of the net by Ian Smith to give Denver a 1-0 lead.
The Crimson and Gold closed out the game at 1-0. These two wins moved their record to 11-2-4 and clinched the Summit League regular season title for the 10th consecutive season. They will host the Summit League final on Nov. 16.
