DENVER – A year removed from being a bubble team for the NCAA Tournament, the 2013 University of Denver men’s soccer team left little doubt in anyone’s eyes that the Pioneers were deserving of a shot at the title.
Finishing 13-3-4, the Pioneers set numerous records in rout to their fourth overall appearance in the NCAA Tournament and Summit League titles in both the regular season and the conference tournament.
DU’s 13 wins broke the previous Division I school record of 12 set in 2004. Of those 13 wins, 11 were shutouts, another DI school record, breaking the previous mark of nine in 2006. Additionally, the Crimson and Gold current streak of 15-consecutive unbeaten matches and is the best in school history.
During the streak, Denver earned eight-consecutive wins, five-consecutive shutouts and a scoreless streak of 584 minutes, all breaking Matt Bredehoft’s records from 2006.
“From the beginning of the year we set out a goal and that was to play a certain brand of soccer and to create an identity” said assistant coach Jamie Franks. “By doing that we were able to break all these Division I school records. You need to give credit to the guys for sticking to the plan all season”
“We never set out to break all these records,” said assistant coach Ryan Hopkins. “It was just a byproduct of us doing the right things, being focused and organized defensively. To be an NCAA Tournament team, there are a certain amount of goals the team needs to achieve.”
Led by senior Zach Bolden (Denver, Colo.), Offensive Player of the Year, senior Theodor Remman (Hosle, Norway), Defensive Player of the Year, and junior Oliver Brown (Louisville, Ky.), Goalkeeper of the Year, nine Pioneers were named to The Summit League All-Conference Team. Senior Cole Chapleski (Broomfield, Colo.), redshirt junior Reid Hukari (Wheat Ridge, Colo.), junior Taylor Hunter (Aurora, Colo.) and sophomore Jordan Schweitzer (Everett, Wash.) were named to the All-Conference First Team. Head coach Bobby Muuss was named The Summit League Coach of the Year, his third coach of the year honor of his career.
Additionally, junior Brian Hoyt (Tempe, Ariz.) was named to the All-League Second Team while redshirt freshman Reagan Dunk (Dallas, Texas), freshman Eric Kronenberg (Boulder, Colo.) and freshman Kyle Morlack (Goodyear, Ariz.) were all named to the All-Newcomer Team.
“I think any time there are individual athlete awards, it comes from team success,” said Franks. “You normally don’t see MVPs or Player of the Year awards on teams at the bottom of the table. It’s a testament to our guys for playing their individual roles and putting others in position to win these awards.”
Opening with a difficult non-conference schedule, Denver dropper its first match of the year 2-0 while hosting then No. 21 Charlotte on Aug. 30. Led by the seniors, the Pioneers would earn their first win two days later while hosting Cal State Bakersfield 4-0. Jeralds scored the first goal of the year for DU coming off a corner kick from Bolden and a header from Schweitzer.
Denver would travel across the country to take on George Mason and begin their longest road trip of the season. The Pioneers fell to the Patriots 4-1 on Sept. 6 before heading to Washington, D.C., to take on American two days later. After battling for 120 minutes, Denver and American settled for a 2-2 tie. Continuing their three-game road trip, the Pioneers took on then No. 6 Saint Louis on Sept. 14, falling to the Billikens 1-0.
“When you look at the schedule, we wanted to challenge ourselves by going on the road and across the country,” said Franks. “Playing in Washington, D.C., is not an easy feat, but in our eyes we were just trying to get better each game.”
Returning to Colorado and looking for a way to turn the season around, DU welcomed Bradley to CIBER Field, playing to a 2-2 tie on Sept. 20. Two day later, San Diego State took its shot at the Pioneers, but came up short as junior Kosta Kordistos (Lippstadt, Germany) gave DU a 2-1 victory over the Aztecs in overtime. Just 30 seconds into the overtime period, Morlack sent a ball over to Kordistos who then chipped a shot over the Aztec goaltender for the game-winner.
On the heels of a thrilling overtime win, the Pioneers traveled to one of the most hostile venues in NCAA soccer in Portland. Facing the Pilots, DU managed to come out on top 1-0 after Kronenberg scored his first collegiate goal.
Back in Denver for a matchup against Cal Poly, the Crimson and Gold continued its unbeaten streak with a 2-1 come from behind victory over the Mustangs. Trailing after the first 45 minutes, Chapleski drilled a penalty kick in the high center of the goal to tie the game. In the 69th minutes, Dunk slipped a pass between three Cal Poly defenders to find Bolden for the game-winning goal.
Entering Summit League play for the first time in DU history, the Pioneers faced off against the Mastodons, coming out on top 5-0 in Fort Wayne, Ind. Staying on the road, the Pio’s traveled to Rochester, Mich., for a nonconference matchup against Oakland. The Pioneers and Golden Bears battled to a 1-1 tie with DU outshooting OU 3-1 in the overtime periods.
Kicking off a four-game homestand, the Pioneers returned home to host IUPUI in a Summit League match. DU extended its unbeaten streak with a 4-0 victory over the Jaguars. Denver would go on to beat Loyola-Chicago 2-0 in the following match led by Bolden’s goal and assist against the Ramblers.
In a tough fought match against Omaha, the Pioneers came out with a 1-0 win. DU hosted Eastern Illinois for senior night on Oct. 26 as six seniors were honored in their last home game. Bolden, Jeralds, Chapleski, Anees Abdulgasem (Denver, Colo.), Jack Henderson (Denver, Colo.) and Remman each saw action in what would be a record setting game for Denver. With his fourth-consecutive shutout of the year, Brown broke Bredehoft’s previous record of 407 minutes without surrendering a goal.
Back on the road, DU secured The Summit League regular season title with a 2-0 win over Oral Roberts. The victory set a new school record with 11-consecutive unbeaten matches, topping the previous mark set in 2008. With their fifth-consecutive shutout, Brown and the Pioneers broke Bredehoft’s previous record for consecutive shutouts in a season set in 2006.
Wrapping up the regular season in Macomb, Ill., the Pioneers finished conference play with a perfect 6-0 record after topping Western Illinois 2-1. With 4:07 left in the game, the Leathernecks scored a goal, snapping DU’s shutout streak and consecutive scoreless minute streak at 584 minutes. Denver finished the regular season 11-3-3.
The Crimson and Gold would see a record setting day from Bolden in The Summit League semifinals 5-0 win against IUPUI on Nov. 15. Bolden recorded a hat trick and an assist against the Jaguars, becoming the first athlete since Jarod Stigall in 2010 to record a hat trick. Additionally, Bolden’s seven points against the Jaguars set a new conference record for points in a tournament game and the most recorded by a DU player since 1999.
In addition to his single-game accomplishments, Bolden now sits alone at the top of three school single-season records since DU became a Division I school in 1999. Bolden’s 29 career points put him above Stigall’s 26 points in 2010. With his hat trick, Bolden went from fourth-to-first for single-season goals with 10. Tied for second with nine goals are Stigall (2010), Kyle Christensen (2007) and Travis Hendriks (2004). Bolden’s nine assists this year put him atop the list of single-season assists, ahead of himself (2012) and Stigall (2010).
Denver would go on to win The Summit League Championship with a 1-0 victory over host Western Illinois and redshirt Hukari taking home the Tournament MVP honors. Bolden, Jeralds and sophomore Karsten Hanlin (Centennial, Colo.) were also named to The Summit League All-Tournament Team.
The Pioneers would see their season come to a heartbreaking end in Louisville, Ky., against the Cardinals on Nov. 21. After battling Louisville for a scoreless 110 minutes, the Cardinals came out on top 3-2 in penalty kicks. Denver outshot Louisville 11-6 in the match, including seven shots in the second half. Louisville was unable to get a shot off in either overtime period against DU.
“It was a disappointing end to the season,” said Hopkins. “We felt like we imposed our style of soccer on the road against Louisville in the NCAA Tournament and we had about four good chances to score which could have been the game-winning goal. Even though we didn’t advance, we played well and I think it will make the returners hungry for more heading into next year.”
After the season, the Pioneers saw multiple awards come in for their athletes, including Bolden, Remman and Schweitzer being named to the NSCAA/Continental Tire NCAA Division I Men’s All-Midwest Region First Team.
Bolden led the league in points (29), goals (10), assists (9), shots (61), shots-on-goal (23) and game-winning goals (6). Remman helped the DU defense hold its opponents to 0.75 goals, 9.1 shots and 3.4 shots-on-goal per game. Schweitzer’s two assists this season were both on game-winning goals.
Although Denver could not reach the ultimate goal, the Pioneers set a new precedence moving forward.
-EXPERIENCE DENVER ATHLETICS-
Like Denver Pioneers and Denver Men’s Soccer on Facebook
Follow @DU_Pioneers and @DU_MSoccer on Twitter
