Nov. 12, 2004

Box Score

DENVER - On a day when the University of Denver men's soccer team honored its four seniors it was senior forward Christian Bowers (Holladay, Utah) who shined the brightest. Bowers tallied the game's lone goal in the Pioneers 1-0 victory over the Air Force Falcons on Friday afternoon in Mountain Pacific Sports Federation action at Pioneer Field. Denver's third consecutive win improves its record to 11-5-1 overall and 8-3-0 in the MPSF. The Falcons fall to 8-9-1, 4-7-0.

After an intense 28 minutes that included five Denver shots, one on goal and one, Air Force shot, Bowers found the back of the net. Sophomore midfielder James Merriman (Nanaimo, B.C.) played a ball to Bowers, who then turned and fired, beating Paul Elsbernd low and left from 13 yards out.

Both teams had several good chances the rest of the way including an amazing save by freshman goalkeeper Matt Bredehoft (Fort Collins, Colo.) in the 61st minute. Bredehoft miraculously got his hand on an Andy Nigro header that was about to sail just under the crossbar. The ball rebounded and found the head of Scott Muir. His shot was blocked by junior defender Liam Girard (Victoria, B.C.), preserving the shutout.

Bredehoft made three saves in his fifth shutout performance of the season. Elsbernd registered seven for the Falcons.

Denver outshot Air Force 21-10, and had a 6-2 advantage in corner kicks.

The Pioneers' 11 overall and nine home wins are both the most since Denver made the move to Division I in 1998. Denver has not won more than 10 games since 1997 when they won 14. The Pioneers nine home victories are the most since 1990 when they won 10.

Seniors Christian Atencio (Richland, Wash.), Bowers, Alejandro Diaz (Caracas, Venezuela) and Mark Wellen (Littleton, Colo.) were honored in a ceremony before the game.

The Pioneers and Falcons will meet again in the regular-season finale for both teams in Colorado Springs on Sunday, November 14 at 1 p.m.

                          Soccer Game Summary (Final)
                       The Automated ScoreBook For Soccer
              Air Force vs Denver (Nov 12, 2004 at Denver, Colo.)

 Air Force (8-9-1, 4-7-0) vs. Denver (11-5-1, 8-3-0)
 Date: Nov 12, 2004  Attendance: 177
 Weather:
 Goals by period       1  2  Tot
 -------------------------------
 Air Force...........  0  0 -  0
 Denver..............  1  0 -  1
 SCORING SUMMARY:
  1.  28:00 DENVER Bowers, Christian (6) (Merriman, James)
 Shots: Air Force 10, Denver 21
 Saves: Air Force 7 (Paul Elsbernd 7), Denver 4 (Bredehoft, Matt 3;
 TEAM 1)