THE PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE
• Denver picked up its first win of the season on Sunday afternoon as the Pioneers won at [RV] Cal, courtesy of
Preston Judd's first goal as a Pioneer and eight saves from
Will Palmquist, including a penalty kick stop late in the second half.
• The Crimson and Gold will play their first home match of the 2019 campaign on September 21, when the Pioneers welcome SMU back to the Mile High City. Kickoff is set for 5 p.m., and will be the first game of a double header with the women's program that is set to kickoff at 7:30 p.m. MT. Both matches are scheduled to be broadcast live on Altitude. Saturday's match is also Denver's annual Bark in the Park Night at the University of Denver Soccer Stadium.
• DU will open its 2019 Summit League slate on Saturday, September 28th, at the University of Denver Soccer Stadium. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. MT, and the match will be broadcast live on Altitude.
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 62-16-11 as a head coach through four seasons with the Pioneers.
• The Pioneers are 97-33-19 since Franks' arrival as an assistant coach prior to the start of the 2012 season.
• Combined as a college player and coach, Franks is 196-60-36, 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) four seasons ago, and was the second youngest in 2016.
GET ON THE BOARD FIRST
• Denver is 88-5-8 when scoring the first goal since Franks' arrival in 2012.
• DU hasn't lost at home after scoring the first goal since a 2-1 loss to UMKC in 2009.
• Prior to Denver's season opener against Washington, Denver hadn't lost in a match it had led since Bradley in 2014.
FAST START
•
Josh Drack opened the 2019 campaign with the fastest goal in Denver's Division I history to get the Pioneers on the board 26 seconds in, but [RV/28] Washington scored on either side of halftime to take the 2-1 victory over the visiting Pioneers.
•
Liam Johnson scored in the sixth-minute to open the scoring in Denver's 2-1 loss to No. 2 Indiana on Sept. 6.
• Since
Jamie Franks joined the staff as an assistant at the start of the 2012 season, Denver has outscored its opponents 32-9 in the opening 15 minutes of matches.
•
Preston Judd's 30th minute header in Denver's 1-0 win at Cal on September 15, extended Denver's scoring margin to 80-29 since 2012 in the opening 30 minutes of matches.
DENVER AGAINST TOP-10 TEAMS
• The Pioneers are 5-22-0 against teams ranked in the top-10 of the United Soccer Coaches' Poll.
• The Crimson and Gold are 4-5-0 against top-10 teams under head coach
Jamie Franks.
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 Sept. 15) with the seventh-best strength of schedule in the country, sitting 57th in the RPI.
DEFENSIVE FORM
• The Pioneers have allowed five shots or less in a match 50 times in their Division I history, going 41-7-2 in those matches.
• Denver has also held opponents to two shots on goal or less 99 times, recording an 85-10-4 record in those matches.
• The Pioneers have held 16 opponents without a shot on goal since turning DI in 1998.
• DU held Saint Louis without a shot in its 2-1 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 23 times (22-0-1) and two shots on goal or less 43 times (40-3-0).
• Denver has kept two cleansheets this season (1-0-1), 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 65-6-5 at home since Franks joined the staff as an assistant in 2012 and 75-17-11 since the stadium opened.
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.
SEVEN-STRAIGHT 10 WIN SEASONS
• The Pioneers have recorded double-digit wins in each of the seven seasons since Franks' arrival as an assistant in 2012, averaging 14.2 wins in the last six seasons.
• Prior to this stretch, Denver last recorded 5+ consecutive double digit win seasons from 1986-90, producing a record of 78-15-8 in that span. From 2012-present, Denver is 96-29-18.
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.
• The Pioneers have seven DI CoSIDA Academic All-Americans, including four first team selections.
Andre Shinyashiki won the award in 2018.
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 28-2-4 in conference regular season play (19-0-3 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).