Oct. 17, 2004

Box Score

DENVER - Freshman goalkeeper Matt Bredehoft (Fort Collins, Colo.) recorded 14 saves as the University of Denver upended No. 3 New Mexico, 2-1, this afternoon in Mountain Pacific Sports Federation action at Pioneer Field. The Pioneers' second-consecutive victory improves their overall mark to 7-3-1 and 4-1-0 in the MPSF. The Lobos' first loss of the year drops them to 10-1-0, 4-1-0.

"We played a good 90 minutes," said Head Coach Chad Ashton. "The two early goals set the tone for the rest of the match and Matt (Bredehoft) was excellent in goal."

The Pioneers did what they had to do early, score. New Mexico had not allowed a goal in the last 524:01 before today's game. That streak got up to 534:36 before sophomore forward Kyle Christensen (Layton, Utah) ended it.

Christensen was able to beat Lobo keeper Andrew Webber when a Denver corner kick was knocked back into the box by senior midfielder/defender Mark Wellen (Littleton, Colo.). Fellow senior forward Christian Bowers (Holladay, Utah) played the ball off his chest to the foot of Christensen who blasted it into the back of the net.

The Pioneers took advantage of a stunned New Mexico team, tallying the game-winning goal seven minutes later. Bowers scored his fourth goal of the year on a breakaway off a pass from sophomore midfielder Ben Mendozza (Aurora, Colo.). Bowers took the pass and split two defenders before beating Lobo keeper Andrew Weber high and right.

The two squads remained scoreless until the 72nd minute when Lance Watson was finally able to put a ball past Bredehoft.

The last 15 minutes of the match remained intense, with New Mexico putting a lot of pressure on the Pioneer defense. The feverish action reached its pinnacle in the 80th minute when Bredehoft made a diving save off a Jeff Rowland penalty kick.

New Mexico outshot Denver, 23-14.

The Pioneers return to action next weekend when they travel to California for two MPSF match-ups. Denver will square-off against Sacramento State on Friday, October 22 at 5 p.m. MT and San Jose State on Sunday, October 24, at 2 p.m. MT.

                          Soccer Game Summary (Final)
                       The Automated ScoreBook For Soccer
              New Mexico vs Denver (Oct 17, 2004 at Denver, Colo.)

 New Mexico (10-1-0, 4-1-0) vs. Denver (7-3-1, 4-1-0)
 Date: Oct 17, 2004  Attendance: 300
 Weather:
 Goals by period       1  2  Tot
 -------------------------------
 New Mexico..........  0  1 -  1
 Denver..............  2  0 -  2
 SCORING SUMMARY:
  1.  10:35 DENVER Christensen, Kyle (4) (Bowers, Christian;Wellen, Mark) - Corner kick
  2.  17:45 DENVER Bowers, Christian (4) (Mendozza, Ben)
  3.  72:34 NM Lance Watson (4) (Patrick Grange)
 Shots: New Mexico 23, Denver 14
 Saves: New Mexico 2 (Andrew Weber 2), Denver 14 (Bredehoft, Matt 14)