Aug. 15, 2015 Denver 1-4 Texas Tech (Beckie 42', 44', 88', Swander 57', Denesik 89')
DENVER - The University of Denver women's soccer team dropped its only exhibition of 2015, 4-1 to No. 15 Texas Tech on Saturday night at CIBER Field at the University of Denver Soccer Stadium. The Pioneers will officially open the 2015 campaign in the Colorado Cup Friday at Air Force (6 p.m. MT).
"Texas Tech is a good team, they pass the ball around really well, and are always enjoyable to play," head coach Jeff Hooker said. "I thought we were in a decent position with five minutes left, and it's 2-1. We were pressing, got a little bit of the ball, and then lost it, and they made us pay for it. Good teams do that."
Texas Tech had a heavy spell of possession in the first half, producing two first-half strikes in the frame. The match was suspended for a lightning delay for 51 minutes in the 36th minute, with Texas Tech holding a 7-0 shot advantage.
The Red Raiders' persistence paid off as Janine Beckie got a first-half brace in the final five minutes, one off a laid-back pass from 15-yards out and a second on a 1-v-1 with the keeper from 10-yards out to give Texas Tech a 2-0 lead heading into the intermission. A senior, Beckie is the sister of former Denver men's soccer captain Drew Beckie.
After a good spell of possession to begin the second half, the Pioneers pulled one back in the 57th minute on a set-piece header off a Stella Norman (Lakewood, Colo.) service from just inside the Denver attacking half. Freshman Leah Swander (Grand Junction, Colo.) got on the end of the service in the area to cut the Texas Tech lead to 2-1.
"If you take that last five minutes away, I'm happy with a lot of what we did out there today," Hooker said. "We'll take some positives out of the game today. We had some players play for us for the first time that showed really well today, and we can build on that."
Denver's best chance for an equalizer came off a free kick just outside the left corner of the box, but sophomore Angelica Pacheco's (Taos, N.M.) eight-yard attempt was blocked, and redshirt-junior Francesca Garzelloni's (Parker, Colo.) sailed just wide.
Texas Tech added two more goals in the final five minutes to close out the match, including the completion of Beckie's hat trick.
"We have a lot of new players in the back, and the communication wasn't great in the last five minutes," Hooker said. "Obviously that's not how we want to play, it's not how we want to finish games."
UP NEXT: The Pioneers will officially open 2015 with an hour trip to Colorado Springs on August 21 to take on Air Force in both programs' opener of the fifth Colorado Cup. DU will wrap up its opening weekend in the second match of a Colorado Cup triple-header at CU's Prentup Field against Colorado State (Aug. 23/1:15 p.m.).
TICKETS: Season tickets for the 2015 Denver men's and women's soccer seasons are on sale now, and can be purchased online, here. DU's women's program opens its 2015 home slate in its final match of the Colorado Cup against Colorado on September 11 at 7 p.m. MT.
ABOUT DENVER: Denver enters the campaign with nine-straight double-digit win seasons, and will look to get back to the NCAA Tournament for the third time in four years in 2015.
Head coach Jeff Hooker enters his 24th season and is looking for his 10thNCAA Tournament appearance in 2015. The UCLA man is a nine-time conference coach of the year, and has led Denver to seven league titles and eight league tournament titles. Hooker coached his 500th career match last October.
DU has added six freshmen and a transfer to its 2015 roster, a side led by second-year captain and redshirt junior Francesca Garzelloni (Parker, Colo.). In 44 CAPS, Garzelloni leads the 2015 roster with 10 goals and 25 career points.
- JOIN THE DENVER PIONEER NATION -
Visit DenverPioneers.com for complete coverage of all 17 of Denver's NCAA Division I sports.
Like Denver Pioneers and Denver Women's Soccer on Facebook
Follow @DU_Pioneers and @DU_WSoccer on Twitter.
