DENVER The No. 30 University of Denver women’s soccer team fell to visiting Western Kentucky 1-0 at Pioneer Field on Friday afternoon.

 

Western Kentucky (13-0-3, 7-0-2 SBC) took lead in the 51st minute. Hayley Marsh placed a free kick on goal from about 10 yards inside the half, and junior goalkeeper Mackenzie Snyder (Rancho Santa Fe, Calif.) bobbled the save. Morgan Thomas then buried the rebound with a one-timer from six yards out.

 

Freshman midfielder Bria Beardsley (Mission Viejo, Calif.) had the chance to tie the game on a penalty kick with 17 seconds remaining. Denver (14-2-2, 7-1-1 SBC) was awarded a penalty kick after Western Kentucky’s defense took down senior forward Taryn Hemmings (Greeley, Colo.) in the box. Beardsley’s shot nailed the crossbar, and the rebound came straight out to her. The referees called a foul on Denver when Beardsley touched the ball, as a player cannot touch her own penalty shot twice without it first being touched by another player.

 

“We did some very good things, but at the end of the day it comes down to goals-for and goals-against,” head coach Jeff Hooker said. “Western Kentucky played very composed and absorbed a lot of pressure to come out on top.”

 

The loss was the first at home by the Pioneers since Aug. 31, 2007, when DU fell 2-0 to Colorado, and the first home conference loss since Oct. 16, 2005, when Arkansas State won 2-0 in Denver.

 

The teams today battled to a scoreless tie after 45 minutes of play, but Denver outshot Western Kentucky 10-2 in the first half.

 

Beardsley ripped a shot from 10 yards out just to the left of the net in the 10th minute. The Pioneers had another scoring opportunity in the 17th minute when Hemmings fired a shot from 20 yards out on the left side. Her shot sailed just over the crossbar.

 

Junior forward Mariah Johnston (Littleton, Colo.) broke through the WKU defense in the 21st minute and beat Hilltopper goalkeeper Libby Stout. She got a shot off, but a Western Kentucky defender recovered and blocked the shot with a header.

 

Less than two minutes later, junior midfielder Lizzy Carlson (Honolulu, Hawaii) fired a shot on goal. Stout batted it away, and the rebound hit the right post. Hemmings went for the rebound but was flattened, and the ball rolled out of bounds.

 

Johnston nailed a shot just left of the net with under a minute to play in the half.

 

The second half saw the Pioneers outshoot the Hilltoppers 10-3 for a 20-5 game total.

 

With 19:16 to play, Hemmings dribbled through three defenders and ripped a shot on goal. Stout bobbled the save but managed to hang on.

 

The Pioneers took two corner kicks in the final 7:01. Johnston sent the first one in near post, and a Western Kentucky player headed it back out of bounds. On the second attempt, Johnston fired the ball far post and sophomore defender Jessie Rogers (Fort Collins, Colo.) headed a shot just wide of the goal.

 

Denver’s final chance to tie the game came on Beardsley’s penalty kick.

 

Snyder tallied two saves in the loss, while Stout made six for the Hilltoppers.

 

Denver concludes its home season against Middle Tennessee on Sunday at noon, and the Pioneers will honor their 10 seniors at halftime.

 

 

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