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University of Denver Athletics

Brittney Lewis
Justin Tafoya/NCAA Photos

Women's Soccer Niko Blankenship

Denver Opens Summit League Play at Oral Roberts Sunday

Pioneers being defense of their conference title this weekend

THE PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE                                           
•    Denver concluded non-conference play with an unbeaten weekend in California, drawing with UC Riverside 1-1 on September 26 before defeating [RV] Cal State Northridge on September 29 1-0 courtesy of Samantha Feller's third of the season. 
•    Denver is set to open its 2019 Summit League regular season slate Sunday, October 6th with a trip to Oral Roberts. Kickoff in Tulsa is set for 12 p.m. MT. 
•    The Pioneers will have back-to-back single-match weeks in Summit League play when they host Western Illinois Thursday, October 10th at 6 p.m. MT at the University of Denver Soccer Stadium. The Summit League home opener will be broadcast live on Altitude and Pioneer Vision.

HEAD COACH JEFF HOOKER                         
•     Denver's Jeff Hooker is in his 28th season in charge of the women's program. 
• Hooker recorded his 350th career women's win in the Pioneers Summit League Semifinal victory over North Dakota State on November 1, 2018. 
•    Hooker coached both the men's and the women's programs during the 1996 and 1997 seasons, making this officially his 30th season as a head coach at DU.
•    DU's head man enters this match with a 355-154-48 women's record, and a career record of 375-166-52.
•    The 10-time conference coach of the year has been a part of each of Denver's 11 Division I NCAA Tournament appearances.
•    In league play in his career, Hooker is 171-38-13, including 166-34-13 with the women's program.
•    In the overall NCAA record books heading into this season, Hooker is the 17th winningest head coach by victories (351), and 13th on the active list. 

GET ON THE BOARD FIRST                                  
• Since the start of the 2006 season, Denver is 170-15-7 when scoring the first goal.
• Five of the 14 losses came in the 2017 campaign, including at Colorado in the 2017 NCAA Tournament. Denver also lost when scoring first in its 2019 clash at Portland.
• Since the start of the 2002 season, Denver has outscored opponents 215-84 in the opening half hour of matches, including 11-3 last season and 3-1 so far in 2019.

DEFENSIVE FORM                                                 
• Denver had not allowed a goal in the final 483 minutes before Selection Monday, outscoring opponents 14-0 in that span to end the 2018 regular season. 
• Denver's defense allowed just 27 shots on goal in eight league contests a year ago, the best defensive record in the league. 
• Overall, Denver's defense allowed 4.35 shots on goal per game, which led the Summit League. 
• An All-Colorado Storm centerback pairing of Cheyenne Shorts and Taylor Parker played 20 of the 21 matches together last season, and have started all eight together in 2019. 
• Denver didn't allow a goal in the first 422 minutes of the season in 2019, and didn't allow a goal in the run of play until its sixth match of the season at Portland. 
• The Pioneers held Drake to under five shots, and both Drake and Texas to two shots on goal or less in the opening two weekends of the season. Since turning Division I in 1998, Denver is 96-7-3 when holding an opponent to five shots or less and 107-3-3 when holding an opponent to two shots on goal or less. 

KRISTEN HAMILTON EARNS FIRST CALL-UP TO U.S. WOMEN'S NATIONAL TEAM                
• Former Pioneer All-American Kristen Hamilton earned a call-up on August 26 to the U.S. Women's National Team, the first of her career. 
• Hamilton is Denver's all-time leader in points (138) and goals (51).
• The two matches in this call-up were both against Portugal, on August 29 and September 3. Hamilton earned her first cap on September 3.  
• Hamilton is the only Division I student-athlete in any sport to be named a player of the year in three different conferences. 

THE TWO Cs                                           
• 18 student-athletes from Denver's 2018 roster come from either Colorado or California, including 14 that opted to stay in their home state for their college careers. 
• Colorado and California are the only two states that more than two student-athletes call home (Minnesota only state with two). 

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 MPSF Men's Soccer Tournament, 2014 Summit League Men's and Women's Championships and 2015, 2016 and 2018 men's tourn.
• DU Soccer Stadium has also hosted the 2012 and 2013 NCAA Women's Soccer First Round and the 2015, 2016 and 2018 NCAA Men's Soccer Second Round.
• Denver's women's program is 69-18-7 since the stadium opened. 
• The September 21 double header that featured the men against No. 8 SMU and the women against [RV] Colorado drew 2,715 fans for Bark in the Park Night, a stadium record.

LEAGUE TITLES                                               
•    With the victory against Oral Roberts on Oct. 27, 2018, Denver claimed a share of its ninth NCAA Division I regular season league title, and its third in the Summit League (2013 and 2016)...The Pioneers won the regular season in their only year in the WAC (2012) and won five regular season titles in the Sun Belt (2002, 2003, 2006, 2008, 2010).
• The Pioneers won their 10th league tournament title in their Division I history last year (Summit: 2013, 2017, 2018)...Denver won seven Sun Belt Conference Tournament Titles (2001, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009).

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.
•    The Pioneers have claimed 33 National Championships in their history (Skiing 24, Hockey 8, Men's Lacrosse 1).
•    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. 

 
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Players Mentioned

Sami Feller

#18 Sami Feller

Forward
5' 10"
Sophomore
Fire FC
Taylor Parker

#10 Taylor Parker

Defender
5' 4"
Junior
Colorado Storm
Cheyenne Shorts

#6 Cheyenne Shorts

Defender
5' 9"
Senior
Colorado Storm

Players Mentioned

Sami Feller

#18 Sami Feller

5' 10"
Sophomore
Fire FC
Forward
Taylor Parker

#10 Taylor Parker

5' 4"
Junior
Colorado Storm
Defender
Cheyenne Shorts

#6 Cheyenne Shorts

5' 9"
Senior
Colorado Storm
Defender