June 10, 2014
DENVER - The University of Denver men's soccer program will host two NCAA Tournament teams, nine regular season home games and The Summit League Championship at CIBER Field at the University of Denver Soccer Stadium, head coach Bobby Muuss announced along with the rest of his 2014 schedule on Monday.
The Pioneers' schedule features five NCAA Tournament teams, including three squads that won a game in the tournament. Denver's 2014 non-conference opponents went a combined 110-68-30 in 2013.
"This without a doubt is one of the toughest schedules in the entire country," Muuss said. "For us to schedule this many out-of-conference NCAA Tournament participants from 2013 shows the ambition of our program. Coupling that non-conference schedule with our Summit League slate, the 2014 season will be an exciting one for our fans this fall. We hope to continue to grow the awesome support we have at CIBER Field during our nine home matches, as we make CIBER one of the hardest venues in the country to compete at."
Denver jumps right into its 2014 slate with opening-weekend matches against Cal State Northridge (2013: 15-7-1) on Aug. 29 and Navy (16-4-2) on Aug. 31. Both programs reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament a year ago.
The Pioneers open up their road calendar the following weekend (Sept. 5,7), capping off a stretch of three-straight 2013 NCAA Tournament opponents with a trip to UC Irvine (15-5-3). The Anteaters reached the round of 16 after a 1-0 win over North Carolina. The California weekend trip comes to an end with a visit to San Diego State.
DU returns to the Mile High City for dates with Oakland (Sept. 12) and New Hampshire (Sept. 14), before traveling to Utah Valley (Sept. 19) for a match with the Wolverines in their inaugural season. Prior to diving into conference play, the Pioneers will quickly return home from their trip to Utah Valley to take on Portland (Sept. 21) two days later.
Denver begins its Summit League title defense with a home fixture against Oral Roberts (Sept. 27), second-place finishers in the league a year ago. The Pioneers will then head to Charleston, Ill., to take on Summit League foe Eastern Illinois (Oct. 4), before taking a three-match hiatus from their league slate.
Two of the three teams Denver will face in that stretch reached the NCAA postseason a year ago, including Bradley (Oct. 6), who finished 14-7-2 and made the second round of the tournament. The Pioneers will also play Illinois-Chicago (16-4-0) on Oct. 10 and American Athletic Conference Tournament champion South Florida on Oct. 15.
Denver will finish its regular season schedule with four-consecutive Summit League battles against IPFW (Oct. 18), Omaha (Oct. 25), IUPUI (Oct. 31) and Western Illinois (Nov. 8).
This year' s Summit League Men's Soccer Championship will be played at CIBER Field Nov. 13 and 15, as the Pioneers look to book their ticket to the postseason for the second-consecutive year.
Prior to the start of its regular season, Denver will make exhibition trips to Air Force (Aug. 17) and 2013 NCAA College Cup participant New Mexico (Aug. 23).
Denver returns 19 letter winners to its 2014 roster from a 2013 squad that finished ranked in the top 20 nationally in both scoring defense (0.71) and scoring offense (1.95). The Pioneers return first-team league members Taylor Hunter (Aurora, Colo.) and Jordan Schweitzer (Everett, Wash.) to the squad.
