Sept. 23, 2005
Box Score
LOS ANGELES- The University of Denver women's soccer team fell, to the No. 4 UCLA Bruins, 1-0. Friday night. Bruin Danesha Adams scored in the 56th minute to give the Bruins the win. The loss drops the Pioneers to 3-4-1 on the season, while the Bruins improve to 8-1. Goalkeeper Dani Wiley (Littleton, Colo.) made eight saves.
"The team came out and played very hard against a team that will be in contention for a national championship. I couldn't have asked for them to play any better." said head coach Jeff Hooker. "We have another game on Sunday and we need to come out and get the win."
The game was evenly matched from the beginning, with the Bruins and Pioneers both with several quality scoring opportunities. Taryn Hemmings (Greeley, Colo.) almost put the Pioneers on the board in the eighth minute of the game with a long run down the sideline and an almost perfect cross to forward Dana Schonberger (Littleton, Colo.) that was scooped up by Bruin goalkeeper, Valerie Henderson. The Pioneers had another opportunity minutes later when Hemmings played a ball through the midfield, to Schonberger who had a point blank shot that was saved by Henderson.
Denver goalkeeper, Dani Wiley (Littleton, Colo.) held up the backline for the Pioneers, with three spectacular saves. UCLA's Iris Mora took a shot from inside the 18-yard line, which was stifled by Wiley. Seconds later UCLA's Christina DiMartino, took a shot from nearly the same spot that Wiley sent flying over the crossbar. The third save came in the 34th minute, on a Bristyn Davis shot. The Pioneers and Bruins battled back and forth for the better part of the first half and headed into halftime deadlocked at, 0-0.
The second half featured more of the same, with both teams missing quality scoring chances. Wiley continued to keep the Pioneers in the hunt, with several saves. Defender Holly Huppert (Littleton, Colo.) came up with a big block on a UCLA shot in the 65th minute. The Bruins were able to find net in the 66th minute off of a header. Stacy Lindstrom threw the ball onto the foot of Kara Lang who found forward Danesha Adams for the score. Goalkeeper, Dani Wiley had the biggest save of the game on a UCLA penalty kick. Jill Oakes, banged the shot to the left and Wiley came out and snuffed the shot to hold the UCLA lead at, 1-0.
Denver had a great opportunity on a Katie Oates (Littleton, Colo.) corner kick. Oates placed the ball in the middle of the box giving the Pioneers a chance for a header, but Bruin goalkeeper, Valerie Henderson came out to take away the scoring opportunity. Jenna Billingsley (Littleton, Colo.) almost put the Pioneers on the board, on a crossing opportunity. She placed the cross right along the goal line but the ball rolled out of bounds. Jamie Dierberger (Littleton, Colo.) almost put a UCLA deflection in the net in the final minutes of the match, but Henderson made the save.
Denver returns to the field Sunday, Sept. 25 when they head to Malibu for a 1 p.m. match with the Pepperdine Waves. The Pioneers return to Pioneer Field Friday, Sept. 30 when they open Sun Belt Conference action by hosting South Alabama.
