A physical game between Denver and Portland ended in a scoreless draw on Thursday at Ciber Field. 

The game started back and forth with both sides registering shots early. Portland’s biggest chance of the game came in just the ninth minute after they hit the post. The rebound was called for a handball and it was turned over to the Crimson and Gold. 

Denver possessed the ball and looked to pass through the defense for most of the first half while also sending many crosses over from the right side, but Portland defended well in the box and kept the Crimson and Gold scoreless. They allowed Denver most of the possession and looked to press hard and capitalize off of Denver’s mistakes, which there were a few of in the first half. 

The game got more physical from there with a yellow card for Portland’s Saad Chaouki for his foul on Denver’s captain, redshirt senior midfielder Ben Smith in the 37th minute. 

The second half started with Denver on the attack, who won three corners in the first six minutes. Portland pushed back with a counter-attack that forced a phenomenal diving save for Denver junior goalkeeper Issac Nehme. 

In the 53rd minute, players from both teams crowded the referee and each other after a hard foul from Portland redshirt junior Wylie Trujillo on Denver redshirt junior Ian Smith. The referee reviewed the play for a possible red card but decided to stay with his original decision to give Trujillo a yellow card. 

From there on, it was all Denver on the attack, who took 11 shots in the second half, none of which could find the back of the net. 

The game ended 0-0: a draw for No. 1 ranked Denver. This is their fourth draw of the season, moving their record to 4-0-4 and leaving them still undefeated. 

Denver won on Sunday at home against Seattle University, 2-1. Their next game isn’t until Oct. 2 at home against Oral Roberts. This will be their first Summit League matchup of the season.