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University of Denver Athletics

Team
Carol MacKay

Men's Soccer Niko Blankenship

Denver Heads to Saint Louis for Tuesday Tilt

The Pioneers head to Missouri for second game of four match road swing

THE PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE                                           
• Denver took an early lead, but fell to Western Illinois in a seven-goal thriller on Saturday afternoon in Macomb, Illinois. The Pioneers got goals from Preston Judd, Josh Drack and Kengo Ohira in the loss. 
• The Pioneers will continue their four-game road swing on Tuesday when the Crimson and Gold take on Saint Louis. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. MT, and will be broadcast on ESPN+. Denver will close out the road trip at Oral Roberts (Oct. 19) and at Tulsa (Oct. 22). 
• Following the four match stretch away from the Mile High City, Denver will host Omaha on October 26th at 7 p.m. MT. 

HEAD COACH JAMIE FRANKS                                           
•    Former DU assistant and Wake Forest alum Jamie Franks took over the reins, officially inking his name as Denver's 10th head coach, Aug. 29, 2015.
•    Franks is 63-19-12 as a head coach through four seasons with the Pioneers.
•    The Pioneers are 98-36-20 since Franks' arrival as an assistant coach prior to the start of the 2012 season.
•    Combined as a college player and coach, Franks is 197-63-37, reaching five College Cups and winning a National Championship with the Deacs in 2007.
•    According to information submitted to the NCAA in 2015, Franks was the youngest DI head coach (29) in his debut season, and was the second youngest in 2016.  

DENVER'S 2019 SCHEDULE                                           
•    Denver's 13 non-conference opponents averaged an RPI of just under 40 (including five top-20 programs), and posted a record of 143-81-30 a year ago.
•    The eight opponents that qualified for the 2018 NCAA Tournament combined for nine wins in the postseason. 
•    Denver entered the week (games thru Oct. 13) with the 21st-best strength of schedule in the country. That ranking has been as high as No. 1 earlier this season. 

LIMITING SHOTS                                      
• The Pioneers have allowed five shots or less in a match 51 times in their Division I history, going 41-7-3 in those matches.
• Denver has also held opponents to two shots on goal or less 100 times, recording an 85-10-5 record in those matches.
• The Pioneers have held 17 opponents without a shot on goal since turning DI in 1998, including in a 0-0 draw against Eastern Illinois on September 28. 
• DU held Saint Louis without a shot in its win in 2016, the only match Denver's opponents have been held without a shot in the Pioneers DI era. 
• Under Franks (since 2015), Denver has held opponents to five shots or less 24 times (22-0-2) and two shots on goal or less 44 times (40-3-1). 
• Denver has kept three cleansheets this season (1-0-2), including an eight-stop performance from Will Palmquist on September 15 at Cal that earned him Summit League Men's Soccer Defensive Player of the Week.

UNIVERSITY OF DENVER SOCCER STADIUM                        
• The University of Denver Soccer Stadium opened in 2009. 
• The 2,000 seat stadium hosts both the men's and women's soccer programs and sits above the 10,000 square foot Pat Bowlen Strength and Conditioning Complex.
• The stadium has hosted the 2009 and 2011 MPSF Men's Tournaments, 2014 Summit League Men's and Women's Championships and 2015,2016 and 2018 Summit League Men's Championship. The Pioneers will host again the men's tournament in 2019. 
• DU Soccer Stadium hosted the 2012 NCAA Women's First Round, the 2015, 2016 and 2018 NCAA Men's Second Round and the 2016 NCAA Round of 16. 
• The Pioneer men are 66-7-6 at home since Franks joined the staff as an assistant in 2012 and 76-18-12 since the stadium opened. 

LEAGUE TITLES                                     
•    With the Pioneers regular season win over Oral Roberts (11/3/18), Denver clinched its sixth-straight Summit League regular season title. Since joining the league in 2013, Denver has gone 28-3-5 in conference regular season play (19-1-4 under Franks). 
•    The 2018 regular season title was the Pioneers eighth since 2008 (MPSF 2008/10).
•    Denver is 11-0-1 in Summit League Tournament play (LPK at Omaha in 2017).

DENVER ATHLETICS SUCCESS                            
•    Denver Athletics has claimed the I-AAA Directors' Cup in 11 of the last 12 seasons, for the top finish in the Directors' Cup standings amongst schools without football.
•    Men's soccer's College Cup berth in 2016 is one of the athletic department's 23 National Semifinal appearances, including 11 since 2011. 
•    As an athletics department, Denver has recorded 70+ wins over Power-5 programs in each of the last three years, including five from men's soccer. 

WORK IN THE CLASSROOM                                           
•    The Denver men's soccer program topped the grade point average rankings for the third-straight year in 2017-18, according to data submitted to United Soccer Coaches. 
•    Denver finished with a 3.49 GPA in 2015-16, a 3.619 GPA in 2016-17 and a 3.628 GPA in 2017-18.
•    Despite improving its GPA to 3.68 in 2018-19, the Pioneers finished second in the national GPA rankings a year ago, just two one-hundereths behind national leader Lipscomb. 
•    The Pioneers have seven DI CoSIDA Academic All-Americans, including four first team selections. Andre Shinyashiki won the award in 2018. 



 
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Players Mentioned

Will Palmquist

#30 Will Palmquist

Goalkeeper
6' 0"
Redshirt Sophomore
Colorado Rush
Andre Shinyashiki

#9 Andre Shinyashiki

Forward
5' 9"
Senior
Pequeninos do Jockey
Preston Judd

#9 Preston Judd

Forward
6' 3"
Junior
California Baptist
Kengo Ohira

#91 Kengo Ohira

Midfielder
5' 10"
Freshman
Waseda United
Josh Drack

#19 Josh Drack

Forward
5' 7"
Junior
Grand Canyon

Players Mentioned

Will Palmquist

#30 Will Palmquist

6' 0"
Redshirt Sophomore
Colorado Rush
Goalkeeper
Andre Shinyashiki

#9 Andre Shinyashiki

5' 9"
Senior
Pequeninos do Jockey
Forward
Preston Judd

#9 Preston Judd

6' 3"
Junior
California Baptist
Forward
Kengo Ohira

#91 Kengo Ohira

5' 10"
Freshman
Waseda United
Midfielder
Josh Drack

#19 Josh Drack

5' 7"
Junior
Grand Canyon
Forward