Nov. 3, 2002

Box Score

DENVER - Senior Robert Rice (Kingwood, Texas) scored two goals and senior captain Nat Borchers (Pueblo, Colo.) added three assists as the University of Denver men's soccer team defeated conference foe San Diego State, 3-0, Sunday afternoon at Pioneer field. With the win the Pioneers improve to 7-11-0 and 1-4-0 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. The Aztecs fall to 4-12-4 and 0-5-1 in the MPSF.

The victory, Denver's first since September 29, qualifies them for the MPSF tournament in Albuquerque, N.M on November 14-16. SDSU is eliminated from postseason play. The win also snaps the Pioneers seven game losing steak, their longest since 1973.

"It will be nice to get a fresh start," head coach Chad Ashton said. "Hopefully we can beat our rival next week and head the to MPSF tournament with some momentum. Once we get there anything can happen."

The game's first goal came in the 38th minute when sophomore Chris Fagnant (Libertyville, Ill.) converted his own rebound. The play was setup by Borchers who fed the sophomore the ball deep in the box. Fagnant's first shot was saved by Aztec goalie Brian Barnes, but the second got by, giving Denver a 1-0 lead going into halftime.

The Pioneers came out charged up the second half, scoring two goals in a one minute span. The first was also setup by Borchers. The senior fed the ball to Rice, who made a great one-on-one move to beat Barnes and put the ball in the back of the net in the 57th minute, giving Denver a 2-0 lead.

The second goal came after a Pioneer penalty gave SDSU a free kick from 20 yards out. Denver successfully defended the play and turned up field creating a three-on-two situation. Borchers' long ball to sophomore Alejandro Diaz (Caracas, Venezuela) was crossed and put home by Rice, giving the Pioneers a 3-0 lead.

Denver outshot the Aztecs 21-9 with only one SDSU shot reaching Pioneer goalkeeper senior Brian Lux (Lakewood, Colo.). Lux, who made one save, posted his second career shutout. Denver is back in action next Sunday, November 10, 2002 when they take on MPSF rival Air Force. The instate battle will begin at noon at Pioneer field.

Goals by Period       1  2    Tot
DENVER..............  1  2 -  3
SAN DIEGO STATE.....  0  0 -  0

Shots by Period       1  2    Tot     Saves by Period       1  2    Tot
-----------------------------------   -------------------------------
SAN DIEGO STATE.....  5  4 -  9       SAN DIEGO STATE.....  3  2 -  5
DENVER.............. 11 10 - 21       DENVER..............  0  1 -  1

SCORING SUMMARY:
GOAL   Time Team     ## Goal Scorer         Assists
------------------------------------------------------------
1.   38:38 DENVER    7 Chris Fagnant (4)   9 Nat Borchers
                                             Off rebound
2.   57:44 DENVER   22 Robert Rice (6)     9 Nat Borchers
                                             One-on-one situation deep in the box
3.   58:37 DENVER   22 Robert Rice (7)     12 Alejandro Diaz/9 Nat Borchers
                                             Odd man rush after penalty