DU women’s soccer stayed local last week with home games against Eastern Slope opponents University of Colorado Boulder on Sept. 11 and Colorado State University on Sept. 14.
The Crimson and Gold’s season has gotten off to a back and forth start. They held a 2-2-3 record going into Thursday’s matchup after a season opening win against Air Force Academy followed by three straight draws with just one goal. They returned home from an unsuccessful road trip to Arizona, with losses to both Arizona State University and The University of Arizona, looking to find their winning ways.
Thursday’s game against Boulder got off to a rocky start for Denver with the Buff’s attacking right away. Emerson Layne found herself wide open at the top of the box and took a shot that ricocheted to Jace Holley who then finished it to put Boulder up 1-0 in just the fourth minute.
Soon after, Vivi Zacarias got the ball outside of the box, cut back and curled a shot into the top left corner to double Boulder’s lead to 2-0 eight minutes in.
With their backs against the wall, the Crimson and Gold found a glimmer of hope in the 11th minute when a sliding Boulder defender blocked the shot of redshirt freshman midfielder Rowan LaPiano which was called for a handball inside the box. The referee however reviewed the play and decided it would not be a penalty kick for Denver.
Although there were no more goals, the rest of the game was dominated by the Buffaloes. They took 20 total shots compared to Denver’s three and went home with a win.
Denver’s next game was no easier, with No. 25 Colorado State coming in as heavy favorites.
The game started with Denver on their heels. Redshirt junior goalkeeper Alina Santos caught the ball and appeared to have possession before she went down and it was knocked out of her hands. Mia Casey of the Rams picked up the pieces in front of goal and scored in the tenth minute to give Colorado State the lead.
Denver equalized in the 24th minute when senior midfielder Isabella Chidiac took a corner and found redshirt junior defender Emma Thielbahr whose header hit the post and bounced in. This goal took the game to halftime tied at 1-1.
It was déjà vu for Denver in the second half when once again, Chidiac took a corner kick and found Thielbahr who headed it into the back of the net in the 64th minute.
This goal would go on to be the game winner for Denver. They defended well for the rest of the game and completed the upset. This pushed their overall record to 3-3-3.
Denver will have some time off before traveling up north to open Summit League play with North Dakota on Sept. 25 and North Dakota State on Sept. 28.
