The Denver women’s soccer team won the Colorado Classic hosted by CU-Boulder for the second consecutive year after defeating Fresno State 3-2 in overtime on Friday and then shutting out Gonzaga 3-0 on Saturday.
“It was a good weekend,” said head coach Jeff Hooker. “Scoring six goals over the weekend was nice to see, and seeing the scoring not all coming from Taryn Hemmings is a plus.”
On Friday, senior forward Dana Schonberger netted the first goal with just six minutes remaining in the first half.
Just nine minutes into the second half, the Pioneers extended their lead to 2-0 when junior Lizzy Carlson buried a shot from 20 yards out.
The Fresno State Bulldogs (2-5-0) tied the game with only three minutes of play remaining, sending the game into overtime, but it was Denver’s freshman Bria Beardsley who scored off a penalty goal. It was Beardsley’s first career goal.
“Fresno is a good team and countered on mistakes we made,” Beardsley said. “They tied the game up 2-2 with just a few minutes left. We went into overtime, and Mariah Johnston was fouled inside the penalty box which gave us a penalty kill. It wasn’t until after I scored did I realize how horrible I would have felt if I had missed since my team had been working so hard.”
“Her (Beardsley) penalty kick for the win on Friday showed a lot of poise on her part especially for a freshman,” Hooker said.
On Saturday, Beardsley continued her run of luck as she recorded her second-straight game-winning goal against the Gonzaga Bulldogs (4-5-0) just six minutes into the game.
“It feels great to have two goals this weekend,” Beardsley said. “Hemmingscould not have given me a more shot on top of the box.”
Denver carried their lead through halftime where senior forward Dana Schonberger netted a rebound off her own shot.
With just over 12 minutes of remaining play, senior forward Hemmings increased Denver’s lead to 3-0.
“Mariah, Taryn, Dana and Kari all had some great moments over the weekend in the attack. Defensively we did not give up one shot on goal on Sunday, which is very difficult to do,” Hooker said.
The Pioneers (7-1-1) will begin Sun Belt Conference play next weekend in Louisiana against Louisiana-Monroe and Louisiana-Lafayette.
