SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – The University of Denver men's soccer team dropped a 1-0 result at Missouri State in the NCAA First Round on Thursday night at Betty and Bobby Allison South Stadium.
A match that was delayed 30 minutes by lighting in the area was played in a downpour for the opening 30 minutes. Missouri State held a 5-3 shot advantage in the opening 45 minutes with redshirt-junior goalkeeper Will Palmquist (Denver, Colo.) called upon to make two saves in the first half. The two teams went into the locker room scoreless.
Missouri State took the lead in the 71st minute off a set-piece goal. Jack Denton played the Bears' 11th corner of the night from Palmquist's right. Kyle Heibert got on the end of the service, but his shot was saved by Palmquist. Bentley got to the rebound, putting his 15th goal of the season into the roof of the net from inside the six-yard box to give the home side the advantage.
Denver's best chance to equalize came in the 89th minute, when Josh Drack (Chandler, Ariz.) hammered a free kick at the top of the box, but it was blocked by the wall, and out for a corner kick.
Missouri State outshot Denver 11-7 in the 90 minutes, and took 11 of the 13 corners.
Jamie Franks Postgame
I'm just really proud of the effort of my guys tonight. Really tough conditions: 20 mile-per-hour winds, pouring down rain…Those are just really tough conditions to try to play soccer. Playing against an opponent that has scored over 50 percent of their goals off restarts, it's unfortunate to give up the goal we did because overall I thought we did pretty well with them. You miss one moment, you miss one block, you miss one header and that's the game. The margin of error is really small.
When you look back at the season, the past month has just been amazing. To watch the kids grow and become men over the past month through self-awareness, through accountability, through discipline and through a growth mindset was awesome. We waited too long in the season. We were at our best when our backs were against the wall and when the urgency and accountability was manufactured for us. I think that's the most disappointing part, that we wasted too much time this year.
The past month we grew and got better each game, and by the end of the season we were a tough opponent to play against. At the end of the day, you can't waste any time. It's a process and a journey. With 16 freshmen and sophomores, and everyone coming back, there's so many life learning experiences for these student-athletes.
I'm so proud of these guys because they don't just do well on the soccer field. Their 3.7 grade point average has been the top in the country. It's an amazing feat to accomplish what they have accomplished, not just on the soccer field, but in the community and in the classroom. It's a holistic approach. That's our job as college coaches is to develop people. When you look back at these failures, there's a lot of great opportunity for growth if we approach it the right way.
We have a lot of things to grow and get better at, and I look forward to getting right back to work with this team. I know that this team has what it takes. I believe in the student-athletes that we have in the locker room.
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- Our Journey, Our Time –
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