COLLEGE PARK, Md. – The [20/23] University of Denver men's soccer program got goals from Ronan Wynne and Sam Bassett in the opening 20 minutes, and kept its first clean sheet of the season to take down [9/13] Maryland 2-0 on Friday night at Ludwig Field.
JAMIE FRANKS QUOTABLE:
"The guys should be proud of their collectiveness, grit and decision making. I thought throughout the whole game, they were focused on the play at hand. In 2018, we came here for more of an experience, and tonight, we came here to win the game. You can tell by the team's body language in the first half. We pressed and we chased them all over the field. All focus turns to Monday at Georgetown."
SIGNIFICANT STATS:
- With the win on Friday, Jamie Franks passed Chad Ashton for second in wins (86-30-18) in Denver Men's Soccer history (Franks has the most Division I wins in program history).
- Denver's win was its first over a top-10 team since defeating No. 3 Washington 3-2 in the second period of extra time in 2018. The win was the first top-10 road win since the Pioneers defeated No. 3 Clemson in the 2016 national quarterfinals.
- Denver improved to 21-41-12 in its Division I history against ranked opponents, including 12-14-4 under Franks. The win was Franks' sixth road win against a nationally ranked team.
- The Pioneers improved to 76-6-6 under Franks when scoring first, including 17-0-3 in the last three seasons.
- Sam Bassett's penalty was his third goal of the season to lead the team.
- With its two goals in the first half on Friday, Denver has scored multiple goals in each of its first three matches for the first time since 2004 (Illinois Chicago, UCF, Alabama A&M).
- Maryland had a 10-9 edge in shots, but the Pioneers had an 8-5 advantage in shots on goal and a 4-3 margin in corners.
KEY MOMENTS:
6': On Denver's first corner kick of the night, Sam Bassett found Ronan Wynne at the back post, who headed home the second goal of his career (first of the season).
Maryland 0-1 Denver
17': Seconds after a Denver penalty shout, Jake Mecham beat a pair of defenders and got tripped up in the box and the referee pointed to the spot. Bassett converted from the penalty spot for his third goal of the season.
Maryland 0-2 Denver
19': Maryland's first real chance of the opening half saw Hunter George take a shot from outside the box, but Isaac Nehme made his second save of the evening to keep the Pios two goals up.
41': Nehme dove to his left and shaved another Hunter strike to maintain the two goals advantage.
45': Holger Olsson took Denver's final shot of the half, but the Maryland goalie made a nice save to his right to send the teams into the locker room with the Pios up 2-0.
Halftime
55' Lucas Russo earned a free kick in a dangerous area down the Denver left, but the keeper snuffed out the Bassett set piece.
77' Bassett had the best chance in the second half for a Denver third, but his shot scraped the roof of the net after going just over the bar.
78' Maryland's Griffin Dillon got on the end of a cross, but his left-footed volley rolled wide of Nehme's post.
Fulltime
WHAT'S NEXT:
Denver will play the middle match of its five-match road swing on Monday when Denver heads to [19/9] Georgetown. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. ET/11 a.m. MT on Flo Sports.
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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