Sept. 1, 2002

Box Score

DENVER - Senior midfielders Kristin Warren (Littleton, Colo.) and Katie Antongiovanni (Bakersfield, Calif.) each tallied a goal to lead the University of Denver women's soccer team to a 2-0 win over visiting Fresno State on Sunday afternoon (Sept. 1) at Pioneer Field. With the win, Denver's seventh straight at home dating back to last season, the Pioneers improve to 1-0, while Fresno State falls to 0-2 with its second straight road loss of the season.

Denver's offense took a while to warm up in the first half and looked sluggish through the opening minutes, but found its rhythm midway through the period and never looked back. The Pioneer attack, which outscored opponents by a margin of 45 last season, hit its stride in the 18th minute with the first legitimate scoring chance of the game. Senior forward Kerri Weaver (Littleton, Colo.) beat Fresno State keeper Mary-tyler Wahl to the ball at the top of the box and flipped the ball over her head just wide of the net. Weaver struck again moments later beating a Bulldog defender one-on-one just past the midfield line, but could not get enough on the shot to get it past Wahl, who made the save and cleared the ball out of danger.

Denver's offensive line was quieted for most of the game, but the special teams unit stepped up and converted two of 16 corner kick attempts to earn the victory. Antongiovanni drove in a textbook feed from junior midfielder Mychael Movius (Highlands Ranch, Colo.) in the 27th minute to break the scoreless tie and give the Pioneers a 1-0 lead after she stepped in front of two defenders near the short post and headed in the pass. The Pioneer defensive corps picked up where it left off last season and suffocated the Bulldogs, surrendering just two shots in the opening half.

"It was good to get the first win of the season, especially at home, but we still have to get better," said Antongiovanni, who scored her fifth career game-winner. "Hopefully we can build on this game and improve before Friday. We did a great job of scoring on dead balls, but we need to do a better job of finishing our chances during the game."

Fresno State opened the second half with a pressing attack in the offensive zone, but failed to take advantage of its limited opportunities and was held scoreless for the second time in as many games. Denver's corner kick unit struck again in the waning minutes of the match when Warren, standing alone at the far post, headed in a high cross from junior defender Jamie Norwood (Littleton, Colo.) to seal the victory and put the game out of reach, 2-0, with just under eight minutes to play.

For the game Denver out-shot Fresno State 14-5 and did not yield a corner kick attempt to the Bulldogs on the afternoon. Senior netminder Erica Izard (Fort Collins, Colo.) recorded three saves in the game to earn her school-record-holding 31st career shutout. Wahl made five saves for Fresno State.

"We looked a little rugged out there today, but the season is still early and we still have a lot of work to do," said head coach Jeff Hooker. "This was a good first win for us, however, I felt that we created a lot more scoring chances for ourselves than the score dictates. We had some great moments this afternoon, hopefully we can continue having even more."

Denver will return to action this Friday (Sept. 6) when they square off against No .22 Arizona State in a non-conference match. The game, which is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m., will be played at Stewart Field on the campus of Colorado College in Colorado Springs, Colo.