PHOENIX – The [RV/23] University of Denver women's soccer team went into the locker room level with Northern Arizona at 1-1, and just over 20 minutes into the second half was four goals ahead in a 6-2 win on Saturday night at GCU Stadium. Freshman
Riley Baker netted her first career brace in the victory, the first multi-goal game for any Pioneer this season.
Scoring Summary:
DEN (5-2-0): Frost 45'
, Glover 54', Sharp 60', Beckman (pen) 64', Baker 67', 76'
NAU (0-7-0): Reed 23', Maszton 86'
Quotable – Head Coach Jeff Hooker:
"I felt it was a quality bounce back second half performance tonight. We weren't as sharp as we could have been in the first half. We struggled to find our possession and movement off the ball. We found it in the second half, and it ended up equaling five goals. It was super fun to see soccer played as creatively and fast as we played in the second half. We hadn't seen that kind of quality all season, and coming off of Thursday night's loss, it was important to put in a performance like that tonight.
"Getting the goal at the end of the first half to tie it up was really important. At halftime we just talked about there not being a lot tactically we had to adjust to, we just had to go out and play soccer. We scored some beautiful goals off a series of one or two-touch passes in the second half, and it was fun to watch."
First Half:
The Pioneers fell behind for the third-consecutive match, conceding the opener in the 23
rd minute. Gabrielle Ballard setup Mikella Reed for the breakthrough, her first goal of her season.
Denver put the pressure on late in the first half and got the much-needed leveler from freshman
Ella Frost. The Pioneers took five of their seven shots in the final 6:16 of the first half. The attacking pressure paid off when
Delaney McGowan had her shot blocked, but Frost was the first to the ball and buried her second goal of the season. Frost became the third multiple goal scorer for the Pioneers this season.
The Crimson and Gold outshot Northern Arizona 7-3 in the first half, including 5-3 on target. The Pios took the only two corners of the half, and got shots off both of them.
Second Half:
DU continued to ramp-up the pressure on the other side of the intermission and got the go-ahead tally in the 54
th minute.
Sydney Sharp and
Sami Feller combined to setup the scoring chance, and it was
Kaitlyn Glover that found the back of the net to put the Pioneers ahead. Glover's goal was her third of the season and the ninth of her Denver career.
Just over six minutes after Glover pulled to within one of Sharp's team lead in goals, Sharp netted her fifth of the campaign in the 60
th minute off of Feller's second assist of the night. The goal for Sharp was the 15
th of her three-year stint with the Crimson and Gold.
Denver made it 4-1 in the 64
th when
Natalie Beckman converted from the penalty spot to give the Pioneers a three-goal advantage.
Riley Baker was the first to a rebound in the box off a
Taylor Wells shot before tallying her second goal of her freshman season to extend Denver's lead to 5-1 in the 67
th minute.
Following the first nine-minute break in scoring in the second half, Baker completed her brace with her third goal of 2021. McGowan tallied the first assist of her young career on Denver's sixth tally of the night.
Northern Arizona got a consolation goal in the 86
th minute to cut the Pioneers lead to four late in the match. Logan Maszton scored her first of the season off an assist from Mikayla Topaum.
Notes:
- Saturday marked the second time this season the Pioneers have had five different goal scorers.
- With her two assists on Saturday, Sami Feller moved into seventh in Denver's career points leaderboard, four points behind Jenna Billingsley for sixth.
- Natalie Beckman's goal moved her career point total to 70, moving her into a tie with Kalie Vaughn for ninth in Denver's DI record book.
- Denver scored six goals for the first time since scoring seven at North Dakota on October 24, 2019.
Up Next:
Denver will return home for a pair of matches against Pac 12 opponents next weekend at the University of Denver Soccer Stadium. The Pioneers will open the week against Washington State on Thursday at 7 p.m. MT, before hosting Colorado on Sunday at 1 p.m. MT.
Tickets:
Denver men's and women's soccer single game tickets for the 2021 campaign are on sale now, and can be purchased
here.
Coronavirus Updates
For the latest University of Denver updates on the coronavirus, click here.
DONATE:
Fans interested in making a donation to the Pioneers Athletic Fund can do so by clicking here. Your gift will transform the lives of our student-athletes by giving them the first-class resources needed to excel in the classroom, in competition and beyond. Thank you for Building Pioneers for Life!
Visit DenverPioneers.com for complete coverage of all 18 of Denver's NCAA Division I sports.
Like Denver Pioneers and Denver Women's Soccer on Facebook
Follow @DU_Pioneers and @DU_WSoccer on Twitter
Follow @denverpioneers and @DU_WSoccer on Instagram
