Seniors Shine

Nov. 10, 2002

DENVER - Seniors Nic Hartman (Littleton, Colo.) and Nat Borchers (Pueblo, Colo.) each tallied a goal as the University of Denver men's soccer team defeated instate-rival Air Force, 2-1, in double-overtime, Sunday afternoon at Pioneer Field. With the win the Pioneer improve to 8-11-0 and 2-4-0 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. The Falcons fall to 8-9-1 and 2-4-0 in the MPSF.

The victory, the Pioneers' second straight, secures the fifth seed in next week's MPSF Tournament in Albuquerque, N.M. Denver will either face UCLA or Sacramento State in the first round of Thursday, November 14. Air Force is the sixth and final seed.

After a scoreless first half the Pioneers got on the board when senior Rj Smith's (Denver, Colo.) long throw in was converted by Borchers in the 57th minute. The Falcons were able to tie it up late when Marcus Sagastume finally beat Denver goalkeeper Brian Lux (Lakewood, Colo.) in the 85th minute. Lux faced 10 corners and made seven saves on the day.

The first overtime period produced little scoring chances for either team, as Denver was the only squad to put the ball on goal.

Hartman gave the Pioneers their victory in the second minute of the second bonus period. Freshman Liam Girard (British, B.C.) crossed the ball from the right side allowing Hartman to use his head to beat Air Force goalkeeper Mike Taylor.

Denver has now won two consecutive games after losing seven. This is also the Pioneers third two game-winning streak of the year. Denver opened the year by winning two and then was able to string two together on Sept. 27 and 29. The Pioneers are now 2-3 in overtime matches and 2-1 in double-overtime. Their last overtime victory came in the second match of the year on Sept. 1.

With the win, Denver assured itself of sole possession of fifth place in the MPSF, and thus the No. 5 seed heading to Thursday's opening-round of the MPSF Championship tournament hosted by New Mexico. Denver will open play Thursday, Nov. 8 when they take on fourth-seeded UNLV or Sacramento State at 4 p.m.

Goals by Period 1 2 3 4 Tot Air Force........... 0 1 0 0 - 1 DENVER................0 1 0 1 - 2

Shots by Period 1 2 3 4 Tot Saves by Period 1 2 3 4 Tot ---------------------------------------- --------------------------------------- Air Force........... 6 7 0 0 - 13 Air Force........... 5 4 1 0 - 10 DENVER................11 9 2 1 - 23 DENVER................4 3 0 0 - 7

SCORING SUMMARY: GOAL Time Team ## Goal Scorer Assists ------------------------------------------------------------ 1. 57:15 DENVER 9 Nat Borchers (5) 5 RJ Smith Long Throw In 2. 85:17 AF 11 Marcus Sagastume (6) 7 Daniel Wasson 3. 101:18 DENVER 15 Nic Hartman (7) 6 Liam Girard Cross into box

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