DU men’s soccer solidified their spot atop the Summit League with two victories against Omaha and St. Thomas. The wins mean that as long as they avoid defeat in their last game against Oral Roberts, they will be Summit League regular season champions.
The two games they played had a very different tune, with the St. Thomas match being a 5-0 blowout, while the Omaha game was a back and forth affair that could have gone either way. Both games give DU three points, which is all that matters at the end of the day.
The Omaha game got off to an inauspicious start for the Crimson and Gold, with the Mavericks dominating the opening exchanges. The Mavericks aggressive pressing caused Denver problems in the first half an hour in particular, with multiple turnovers in dangerous areas for the Crimson and Gold.
The best chance for Omaha came around the twenty minute mark when Ede Gramberg fired a shot that was brilliantly saved by diving sophomore goalkeeper Isaac Nehme, who showed tremendous reflexes.
While DU trailed in productivity for most of the half, they showed their class at the end of it. Denver won a corner with just over two minutes to go and the ball was whipped into the box where it was struck off the base of the post, only for sophomore midfielder Holger Olsson to pounce on the rebound and slot it into the back of the net. This gave Denver a 1-0 lead headed into halftime, as well as a huge momentum swing.
Denver was much improved in the second half, with Omaha’s press slowing down due to tired legs. The Crimson and Gold managed to possess the ball in the opposition half much more in the second half and steadily wore down the Mavericks. Omaha still had a handful of opportunities they could not capitalize on, but they had much less control over the game.
Denver also had some chances in the second half, with the best one being a header from a corner kick that just went wide. In the end, DU got a 1-0 win, their third straight game with the same result, which showcases their elite defense and good-enough offense. They have only given up one goal in conference play, with Nehme and the back four playing at an elite level.
While the Omaha game was a competitive contest, the game against St. Thomas was not. The Crimson and Gold were all over St. Thomas from the get-go. They scored three goals in the opening 12 minutes of the game, jumping all over the Tommies. Olsson scored in the opening five minutes of the game, and only a few minutes later, senior midfielder Aidan O’Toole struck, with Olsson providing the assist.
Then, the Crimson and Gold would quickly add another thanks to an own goal. This put the game to bed early on, but DU added yet another at the end of the half, this time off the boot of freshman forward Kyle McGowan, who scored his first collegiate goal.
In the second half, sophomore defender Dylan Akau also scored his first career college goal to make it a 5-0 wipeout for Denver. After a number of mediocre attacking performances, Denver finally exploded, which will hopefully give them momentum heading into a huge showdown with Oral Roberts on Saturday, Oct. 28th.
After that, they have one more home game against Kansas City, which is when the team will celebrate their seniors. Then they go into the Summit League conference tournament and hopefully NCAA Tournament play.
