Oct. 12, 2001

Box Score

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - The University of Denver women's soccer team continued its winning ways with a 1-0 victory over Sun Belt Conference opponent Middle Tennessee on Friday afternoon at Blue Raider Soccer Field. Denver captured its sixth consecutive shutout win and improves to 10-2 overall, 3-1 in league play. Middle Tennessee falls to 6-5, 2-2 in the conference.

Denver completely dominated the first half of play and benefit from an early goal by sophomore Mychael Movius (Highlands Ranch, Colo.) just over 10 minutes into the game. The midfielder chipped in a loose ball from the right side of the box after senior Leslie Montgomery (Wheatridge, Colo.) carried the play into the offensive zone and fired a shot that was deflected by a defender. Movius took advantage of the scoring chance and tallied her sixth goal of the season to give the Pioneers a 1-0 lead. Junior keeper Erica Izard (Fort Collins, Colo.) saw limited action in the opening half due in large part the smothering defense in front of her and was not subjected to a single shot on goal.

The Blue Raiders opened the second half with an energized counter attack and tightened their defensive pressure, but the Pioneers proved to be too strong down the stretch. Denver's midfield rotation stymied MT's forward line and held leading scorer Danielle LaDuke to just two shots.

Izard maintained her composure late in the game and made two critical saves on LaDuke's shots to solidify the win and collect her ninth shutout of the season, 25th of her career. Her tenth win of the season moves her two wins shy of third place on Denver's all-time wins list. Izard is currently fourth in the record books behind Serena Teipel who has 30 wins.

Denver's defense has not yielded a goal in the last 547:17 and has collected its ninth shutout of the season, two shy of the all-time single season record of 11. With the win, the Pioneers have out-scored opponents 21-0 in the last six outings.

"We earned this win today," said head coach Jeff Hooker. "Our execution in the second half was not what it should have been. We lost our patience late in the game that nearly cost us, but Erica did a great job in the final minutes with two big saves. Overall it's a win, but it wasn't pretty."

The Pioneers will conclude this two-game road trip on Sunday (October 14) against Sun Belt Conference newcomer Western Kentucky at 12 p.m. MST. Denver has never faced WKU in women's soccer.

DENVER WOMEN'S SOCCER at Murfreesboro, Tenn. 1 2 -- F Denver (10-2, 3-1) 1 0 -- 0 Middle Tennessee (6-5, 2-2) 0 0 -- 0

SCORING SUMMARY: 1. Denver, Mychael Movius (Unassisted), 10:02

SHOTS: Denver 22, Middle Tennessee 5, CORNER KICKS: Denver 9, Middle Tennessee 1, FOULS: Denver 6, Middle Tennessee 8, SAVES: Denver 2, Middle Tennessee 10, OFFSIDES: Denver 4, Middle Tennessee 1.