DENVER – The [9/7] University of Denver men's soccer team got a goal from AJ Francois in the 39th minute and kept its 11th cleansheet of the season to defeat Omaha 1-0 in the second Summit League Semifinal on Thursday evening at the University of Denver Soccer Stadium.
Fourth-seeded Kansas City defeated top-seeded Oral Roberts 3-2 in extra time in the first semifinal.
QUOTABLE JACK AND SHEILA WEINBERG HEAD MEN'S SOCCER COACH JAMIE FRANKS:
"We struggled a little bit in possession in the first half with some tricky field conditions, but ultimately we executed what we needed to, and most importantly we were able to get that goal before halftime.
"This season has always been about our depth. All the way back in the preseason, we identified that our competition at each position is what makes us special. Ultimately when you have guys that can come off the bench and help you like they did tonight, you have a lot of good options that you have confidence in."
SIGNIFICANT STATS:
· AJ Francois' goal was his first of the season and the second of his career (first goal was the game winner vs. Cal State Fullerton in September, 2021).
· Holger Olsson and Dylan Akau each earned their second assists of the season on the first-half breakthrough.
· With the win, Denver improved to 10-2-2 all-time against Omaha, including 4-0-1 in Summit League Tournament play.
· Denver improved to 119-9-14 when scoring the first goal since Franks stepped foot on campus as an assistant ahead of the 2012 season, including 12-1-2 this year.
· The Pioneers are now 16-7-4 in conference tournament play in their history, including 14-0-3 in the Summit League (2-1 in penalties).
KEY MOMENTS:
3' Denver got off on the front foot, earning three corner kicks in succession, but only a blocked header from Liam Johnson provided Denver with a half chance off the set piece opportunities.
20' Omaha got a couple half-chances in the run of play, but an important save down to his left from Isaac Nehme kept things scoreless.
39' AJ Francois got on the scoresheet for the first time in the 2022 campaign to give the Pioneers the lead before the interval. Akau played Olsson in down the right channel. Olsson's cross from the endline was played to the back post to the wide-open run of Francois, who nodded it into the back of the net from inside the six-yard box.
Halftime
73' Omaha earned four successive corners, but
Ben Smith cleared the lines twice in the sequence to keep Denver ahead.
75' The Mavs went down to 10 men when Dominik Danis received his second yellow of the second half.
86' Kenji Mboma Dem had Omaha's best chance of the night late, but Nehme's second save of the night was a highlight-reel one, picking the 25-yard free kick out of the upper-corner to preserve his eighth solo shutout of the season.
Fulltime
WHAT'S NEXT:
Denver will host Kansas City in the 2022 Summit League Final on Saturday at 2 p.m. MT. The match will be broadcast live on the Summit League's website.
TICKETS:
Tickets for the Summit League Final are on sale now and can be purchased here. Click here to purchase today.
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