Oct. 2, 2014 DENVER - The University of Denver men's soccer team will hit the road this weekend for a Summit League encounter with Eastern Illinois Saturday afternoon before a non-league tilt at Bradley on Monday evening.
The Pioneers are coming off an impressive 4-0 victory over Oral Roberts to begin defense of their Summit League title. The game featured a pair of goals by senior Brian Hoyt.
The objective, since training camp, for Pioneers head coach Bobby Muuss has been to improve day-by-day and week-by-week and he feels that has been the case.
"I think collectively we're getting better," Muuss said. "It's the goal. We've talked about it from day one. We want to peak at the right time. Each week we want to get better. We want to learn from the goods and the bads and we've had some ups and downs along the way here in the first nine games and preseason but I think each week we've learned."
A year ago, DU defeated Eastern Illinois 2-0 at CIBER Field in the first ever matchup between the two schools. Reid Hukari and Eric Kronenberg found the back of the net for the Pioneers. This year the Panthers get the Pioneers on their home field hoping for a reversal of fortune. Despite being just 2-6, Denver isn't about to take their Summit League foes lightly.
"They're just a competitive team," Muuss said of Eastern Illinois. "It's a conference game, we're on the road. Eastern hasn't played too many games at home, most of their games have been on the road so we expect them to be excited for the game. Any game in conference is big, I don't care who you're playing. It's a big game for Eastern and it's a big game for the University of Denver."
Looking ahead, Denver's game against Bradley will also be just the second ever meeting between the teams. Last year, the Braves and Pioneers battled to a 2-2 draw. That game, on September 20th was the last time the Pioneers did not win at CIBER Field. Since then DU has rattled off 12-consecutive victories on their home field. In the game last season, both teams scored a goal in each half with Bradley scoring the equalizer in the 71st minute. Theodor Remman and Reagan Dunk were the goal scorers for DU.
The Pioneers next home game will be Friday October 10 versus the Flames from the University of Illinois at Chicago. Kickoff at CIBER Field is set for 7 o'clock and will be broadcast on Pioneer Vision.
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