DENVER – The [9/11] University of Denver men's soccer program and [13/21] Portland played to a 0-0 draw on Friday night at the University of Denver Soccer Stadium.
JACK AND SHEILA WEINBERG HEAD MEN'S SOCCER COACH JAMIE FRANKS:
"I'm really proud of the group's effort and our ability to be so controlling with the ball and with the spaces that we wanted to play in. We didn't give up much tonight. When you get clean sheets, you put yourself in positions to win games. Obviously, this is a disappointing result. Our group could have done a better job of making sure we were playing at the right tempo. We're going to see this with other teams, and we've got to learn from this.
"A decade ago, I came out to Colorado with one clear goal, and it was to make sure that the best players in Colorado, play their college soccer here, in Colorado. You fast forward 10 years and you think about all the great characters, players and leaders that we've had from Colorado, it's special for them to get to play in-front of crowds like we had tonight. It was great to see the younger generation supporting them tonight like they supported our program years ago."
SIGNIFICANT STATS:
- Denver outshot Portland 5-1 in the opening 45 minutes, including 4-0 on target.
- In the match, Denver outshot Portland 12-5, including 5-3 on target.
- The Pioneers took five of the seven corners.
- Denver had 62-percent possession in the scoreless draw.
- Friday marked the first time Denver has been shutout this season.
KEY MOMENTS:
21' Sam Bassett had the best chance of the opening 21, heading a ball that would have ended up just under the crossbar before it was tipped over the bar by the Portland keeper. Ronan Wynne played the cross from the right channel into a dangerous spot in the middle of the area.
36' Denver's best chance of the half came off the foot of Oje Ofunrein in the middle of the box. Lucas Russo had a hit from just outside the top-left corner of the box that bounced in-front of the keeper, off the keeper's chest and then to Ofunrein in the middle of the box. Ofunrein's shot was picked out of the top corner by the Portland netminder deep into the right channel.
Halftime
53' Freshman goalkeeper Isaac Nehme produced a double-save off a Portland set-piece to keep things scoreless in the opening stages of the second half.
69' Griffin Meyer lunged for a header to give Denver the lead, but it was wide of the near post.
77' David Biggers had the best chance of the second half, but his header in the middle of the box off an Aidan O'Toole service went back across the face of goal and wide of the target.
Fulltime
WHAT'S NEXT:
Denver will play the middle match of its three-game homestand on Tuesday night when the Pioneers welcome Oregon State to the University of Denver Soccer Stadium. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. MT, and will be broadcast live on Altitude TV.
TICKETS:
Single-game tickets are on sale now for all men's and women's soccer matches for the 2022 season. Click here to purchase today.
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