Oct. 1, 2004

Box Score

DENVER - The University of Denver men's soccer team used three first-half goals to slide past the San Jose State Spartans, 3-1, in Mountain Pacific Sports Federation play this afternoon at a cold and wet Pioneer Field. Denver improves to 4-2-1 overall and 1-0-0 in the MPSF. SJSU falls to 1-6-1, 0-1-0.

"It's good to get a win in the first league game of the season," Head Coach Chad Ashton said. "With no conference tournament it is necessary to win at home and keep pace with the other frontrunners in the league."

Both squads struck early as senior forward Christian Bowers (Holladay, Utah) took a Kyle Christensen (Layton, Utah) pass of the chest and proceeded to turn and shoot. The ball got by Spartan keeper Daniel Benton in the 12th minute.

San Jose State responded two minutes later when Tim McKinney deflected a ball off Pioneer keeper Matt Bredehoft (Fort Collins, Colo.).

Junior midfielder Travis Hendricks (Englewood, Colo.) scored the game-winning goal in the 23rd minute. Hendricks put home a rebound off a James Merriman (Nanaimo, B.C.) shot.

Merriman wasn't done however, tallying the insurance goal five minutes later. Sophomore Mike Seager (Victoria, B.C.) played a perfect cross to the feet of Merriman, who then put the biscuit in the basket.

The two teams remained scoreless for the next 62 minutes.

The Pioneers continued the trend of outshooting their opposition, as they outshot the Spartans, 22-8. They also had eight corner kicks to only one for SJSU.

Bredehoft registered his third win in goal.

The Pioneers return to action on Sunday, October 3, when they play host to MPSF rival Sacramento State at 11 a.m.

                          Soccer Game Summary (Final)
                       The Automated ScoreBook For Soccer
            San Jose State vs Denver (Oct 01, 2004 at Denver, Colo.)

 San Jose State (1-6-1, 0-1-0) vs. Denver (4-2-1, 1-0-0)
 Date: Oct 01, 2004  Attendance: 160
 Weather: Wet & Cold
 Goals by period       1  2  Tot
 -------------------------------
 San Jose State......  1  0 -  1
 Denver..............  3  0 -  3
 SCORING SUMMARY:
  1.  12:35 DENVER Bowers, Christian (3) (Christensen, Kyle)
  2.  14:14 SJSU McKinney, Tim (2) (Gonzalez, Johnny;Pender, Dylan)
  3.  23:44 DENVER Hendricks, Travis (3) (Merriman, James)
  4.  28:45 DENVER Merriman, James (2) (Seager, Mike)
 Shots: San Jose State 8, Denver 22
 Saves: San Jose State 9 (Benton, Daniel 9), Denver 3 (Bredehoft, Matt
 3)