PORTLAND – The University of Denver men's soccer team got an early first half goal and kept its first cleansheet of the season to finish its two-match Oregon road trip with a 1-0 win at Portland on Monday night at Merlo Field. 

Scoring Summary:
DEN: O'Toole 17' (DeLeone)

Jack and Sheila Weinberg Head Men's Soccer Coach Jamie Franks:
"The true test of a team is where they stand in challenge and controversy. Our backs were against the wall, and this was a must win game for us. We knew that we would find challenges on this trip. Since the end of the game Friday night, I'm so proud of the way these guys looked internally and challenged eachother, and were honest with eachother. We got better this weekend. As long as we continue to grow, both individually and collectively, we're going to win a lot of games the rest of this season."

Join Denver FC Today:
For the 2021 season, the University of Denver announced the creation of a new DU soccer fan club called "Denver FC". Fans that purchase the Denver FC package will get season tickets to all Denver men's and women's soccer home games, a Denver FC scarf and a season parking pass for all Denver Soccer home events.
 

🎥Highlights from tonight's 1-0 win at Portland.#PioneerTogether pic.twitter.com/9QlgnU8vcL

— Denver MSoccer (@DU_MSoccer) August 31, 2021

First Half:
Coming off of a season-opening loss at [16] Oregon State 72 hours prior, Denver looked a completely different team in the opening 45 minutes on Monday night, controlling the pace of the game in the opening 20 minutes.

Denver's breakthrough came in the 17^th minute with the first goal of the career of Aidan O'Toole. Stefan DeLeone beat his man into the box, coming from the Denver left, but his shot across the frame was saved nicely by the Portland keeper. The rebound bounced around in the box, and was half cleared by a Portland defender, but the clearance was blocked by Jake Mecham. Mecham's deflection fell to the feet of DeLeone, who played a ball from one corner of the D to the other to the run of O'Toole. After taking a touch, O'Toole sent a shot low and hard that hit off a Portland defender's shin but still had plenty of pace on it to nestle into the back of the net.

Monday night's assist for DeLeone was the fifth of his career.

Portland's best opportunity to equalize came in the 20^th minute off of a set piece down the Denver right, but a shot from Jake Arteaga rattled the crossbar and Brian O'Hara's follow up rose over the crossbar.

Denver outshot Portland 6-4 in the first half, and committed 12 of the 21 fouls whistled in the opening 45. A pair of players from each team carried cautions into the second half, including Denver's DeLeone and O'Toole.

Second Half:
Portland continued to search for the equalizer in the second 45, but a couple important stops for Denver maintained the lead at the hour mark. William DeSantis first big save of the night came in the 59^th minute, diving to his right to keep the ball out. In the 64^th minute, Sebastian Nava had a rip for the Pilots, but Denver's Ronan Wynne was there to head it off the line, Denver's fifth blocked shot of the night.

Denver put six of its 11 shots on target Monday night, while the Denver defense held Portland to just two shots on goal. 

Notes:
-          Denver kept its first shutout of the season on Monday night. The Pioneers had three cleansheets in eight matches this spring.
-          The Pioneers improved to 5-1-2 against Portland in their Division I history, a Pilots team that was coming off a 2-0 win against Air Force on Friday night.

Up Next:
Denver will wrap-up its three match road swing a week from today when the Pioneers head to SMU for a 6 p.m. MT kickoff. The match will be streamed live on ESPN+.

Tickets:
Denver men's and women's soccer season tickets and single game tickets for the 2021 campaign are on sale now, and can be purchased here.

DONATE: 
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