Box Score USAFA, Colo. - The University of Denver men's soccer sophomore midfielder Cole Chapleski (Broomfield, Colo.) scored his first career goal, but the Pioneers dropped the regular season finale 2-1 to Air Force on Friday evening.
"Our performance was not good tonight," head coach Bobby Muuss said. "We were better in the second half, but it wasn't enough against a good Air Force team. We need to find a way to find ourselves, going into Thursday's match."
Denver (5-10-3, 3-6-1 MPSF) came back from an deficit, when Chapleski headed in shot off a corner kick from junior midfielder Josh Wren (Tulsa, Okla.) in the waning minutes of the first half.
Air Force senior Ben Chavez scored both goals for the Falcons (11-5-2, 5-3-2 MPSF), including the game-winner off a rebound in the 83rd minute.
The Pioneers had chances in the second half. Senior forward Kellan Christensen (Layton, Utah) put a header off the post early in the first half, and freshman forward Christian Volesky (Henderson, Nev.) fired a rocket from the top of the box with 35 seconds left, but AFA goalkeeper Matt Underwood dove to make the save.
The No. 6 seed Pioneers will face the No. 3 seed in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Tournament Quarterfinals on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. MT. The No. 2-5 seeds will be determined with Saturday's matches.
Tickets for the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Tournament at CIBER Field on Nov. 10-13 are on sale now at the Ritchie Center Box Office, online at www.DenverPioneers.com or by calling 303-871-3573.
