FORT WAYNE, Ind. – Sophomore
Meg Halvorson (Englewood, Colo.) netted her first career multi-goal game to carry the University of Denver women's soccer team past Purdue Fort Wayne 3-1 on Thursday night at Hefner Soccer Complex.
Senior
Leah Swander (Grand Junction, Colo.) added her second goal of the season in the Denver victory.
"Matches away from home in this league are always a challenge, and today was no different," head coach
Jeff Hooker said. "We did a great job of limiting their chances in the first half and creating a goal. We talked at halftime about it being important to get an insurance goal, and we got two, so I'm really proud of how we attacked today. We gave one back on a free kick, but at the end of the day we'll take a road win against a very organized and good soccer playing team and move on to Sunday."
Following some early pressure that nearly saw the Pioneers take the lead in the opening 10 minutes, Halvorson found the awaited breakthrough in the 19
th minute, slicing in a corner kick for her fourth goal of the season. Halvorson's opener pulled her level with junior
Hannah Adler (Oak Park, Calif.) and freshman
Camryn MacMillan (Littleton, Colo.) for second on the team in goals in 2018 behind only freshman
Samantha Feller's (Grand Junction, Colo.) six on the campaign.
Halvorson's second goal came in the 51
st minute off assists from Swander and Feller. Swander played a cross from the left wing into the box to the run of Feller. The Denver freshman's shot was saved by the Dons' keeper, but Halvorson tapped home the rebound from two-yards out to double Denver's lead.
Swander made it 3-0 less than four minutes later, striking one just under the crossbar from 30-yards out for the seventh goal of her Pioneer career. Sophomore holding midfielder
Brittney Lewis (Centennial, Colo.) earned her seventh-career assist on Denver's third goal of the night.
Purdue Fort Wayne pulled one back in the 57
th minute with a set-piece goal from 30 yards out in the center of the field. Kendall Quinn tapped the in-direct free kick to Deanna Hecht, who fired her shot into the upper left corner to make it 3-1 with a little over a half hour to play.
Halvorson, who now has 10 goals in her career, extended Denver's run to 18 of its last 22 goals scored by underclassmen.
Denver's defense held Purdue Fort Wayne to just two shots on goal on Thursday night, with the second coming with 3:15 left to play. Overall, the Pioneers outshot the Dons 24-8, including 14-2 on target.
UP NEXT: Denver returns home on Sunday to battle North Dakota. Kickoff with the Summit League newcomers is set for 12 p.m. MT.
TICKETS: Single-game tickets are on sale and can be purchased
online here, or by calling 303-871-4625.
PIONEER MOVEMENT: Fans interested in making a donation to the women's soccer program can do so by clicking here. Your contribution will make a direct impact on the success of YOUR Pioneers. Thank you in advance for your unwavering support of our student-athletes and their quest for excellence.
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