DENVER – The [9/7] University of Denver men's soccer team got a goal from Liam Johnson in the first half and a pair from Griffin Meyer in the second half to defeat Kansas City 3-0 in the Summit League Final on Saturday afternoon at the University of Denver Soccer Stadium. 

QUOTABLE JACK AND SHEILA WEINBERG HEAD MEN'S SOCCER COACH JAMIE FRANKS:

"I just thought that we found another level -- with our system of play, with guys coming in and doing their jobs, playing their roles. We switched things up a little bit in the first half, and I thought it benefited us greatly.

"You recruit really high-character kids because in games like this, they're going to bring the very best versions of themselves. I thought that the group just did a really good job of focusing on the things you can control -- your positioning, your proactiveness and your grit -- and those are three staples that we demand from all of our players, and I just thought that they brought it today."

SIGNIFICANT STATS:
·        Denver won its fourth-straight tournament title and its 16^th Summit League trophy (regular season and tournament) since joining the league in 2013 (10 seasons).
·        The Pioneers are now 17-7-4 in conference tournament play in their history, including 15-0-3 in the Summit League (2-1 in penalties).
·        A three-time captain, Johnson's goal was the first game-winner of his career, the third goal of his career and his first goal since scoring against Eastern Illinois in April, 2020.
·        Denver out-shot Kansas City 20-2, including 12-0 in the opening 45 minutes. Summit League Tournament MVP Isaac Nehme made a key save late to keep his second cleansheet of the tournament weekend and his ninth solo cleansheet of the season.
·        The Pioneers' 12 shutouts as a team this year ties for the second-most in a single-season in program history (14 in 2016).
·        DU held its opponent to one shot on goal or fewer for the sixth time this season.
·        The Pioneers' three goals are their most in a tournament final since scoring three against Western Illinois in the 2014 Summit League Final at the University of Denver Soccer Stadium.
·        Denver is 89-21-15 at the University of Denver Soccer Stadium, including 79-10-9 since Franks joined the staff in 2012 and 54-8-6 since he was named the head coach in 2015.
·        DU's 13 wins tie for the fourth most in a single season in program history.

KEY MOMENTS:
5' Eli Mereness volleyed a Sam Bassett free kick in the back of the net, but the senior was offside to wipe out the breakthrough.
15' Meyer got on the end of a Ronan Wynne cross down the right flank but couldn't get his body square to the goal and pushed the shot wide.
22' Right after coming on as a first-half substitute, Holger Olsson got in behind the Kansas City backline, but his attempt to tuck a shot inside the far post was blocked in front and out for Denver's fourth of six corners.
41' Johnson headed home the well-deserved breakthrough for the Pioneers in the opening 45 minutes, nodding in a Lukas Fisher corner kick for his first goal of the campaign.
Halftime
74' Denver continued its shot dominance, and Meyer eventually doubled Denver's advantage with his third goal of the season. Mereness played a switch ball from the Denver left at midfield to the Denver right down the channel. Ian Smith got on the end of the switch of play and crossed it into Meyer, who headed it off the Kansas City keeper and in.
78' Meyer didn't wait long to put things to bed, scoring less than four minutes later to make it 3-0 Denver. Nehme touched it to Trevor Wright on a goal kick who kicked it 60-yards up field to the run of Meyer, who finished Denver's third goal of the night. 
Fulltime 

WHAT'S NEXT:
The Pioneers will find out their NCAA Tournament draw on Monday, November 14, at 11 a.m. MT. The show will be broadcast live on NCAA.com.
 
"I just hope that they (the NCAA committee) look at what we're trying to do," Franks added. "We know that the RPI of our conference is the RPI of our conference. Adding two teams in June made it a little bit more difficult, but ultimately you have to look at the ambition and the tough situations and the environments that we're putting ourselves in. I think men's soccer needs to take a little bit of a harder look at RPI. It should come down a little bit more than just your strength of schedule, opponents' strength of schedule and winning percentage. Other sports are trying to figure it out, how to make that number mean a little bit more. It's tough to be 13-2-5 and play the teams that you have, and not really get the rankings. I think the coaches' rankings all season, we've been up in the top 10, top 15, because they see our work but when it comes down to RPI, it's a challenge.
 
"It doesn't really matter who we play. I think we've earned ourselves our home game, and that's what matters."