VERMILLION, S.D. – The University of Denver women's soccer team (11-5-2, 5-1-2 Summit) scored on either side of halftime to shut out South Dakota, 2-0, in the teams' final match of the 2024 regular season on Sunday afternoon.
Redshirt sophomore
Hannah Tate scored her third of the season to open scoring in the first half, booting home a pass back from sophomore
Liv Moritz. Sophomore
Michaela McGowan gave the Pioneers an insurance goal midway through the second half, beating the keeper at the near post after senior
Jadyn Goodrich and freshman
Megan Murray set up the attack near the center circle.
With the win, Denver secured the No. 2 seed for the 2024 Summit League Women's Soccer Championship and will have a bye into the semifinals.
SIGNIFICANT STATS:
- For the fifth time in the last seven matches, DU put at least 20 shots toward the net. Twelve of them went on target, equaling the most by Denver this season.
- M. McGowan tied her mark with a DU season-high four shots on target.
- Tate's first-half goal became the first game winner of her career.
- It was also her third goal scored this season, making her the fifth DU player to score at least three goals in 2024.
- Sunday's win was Denver's 90th all-time in Summit League play and was the team's sixth cleansheet of the year.
- It was also sophomore goalkeeper Molly Wissman 's 10th career cleansheet.
- After starting in the match, fifth-year student Jordan Crockett became the sixth Pioneer to play in at least 90 matches during her Denver career, joining graduate student Vanessa Murray in achieving the milestone this season.
FIRST HALF:
8' | M. McGowan beat two USD defenders at the edge of the 18-yard box and curled a shot toward net where the South Dakota keeper easily handled it.
18' | Tate found herself with only the USD keeper between her and the net inside the box and forced the keeper into a kick save.
20' | Tate started an attack with a pass up to Moritz, who returned the favor by feeding the ball back to Tate from near the penalty spot. Tate then one-touched it past the keeper from the top of the box.
SECOND HALF:
51' | Goodrich tapped a ball out left to Moritz at the left side of the box, but the sophomore's shot sailed high.
52' | South Dakota turned a scramble in the box into a shot around Wissman that squeaked wide of the left post. Off the subsequent goal kick, DU turned an attack into a well-placed shot from M. McGowan that the USD keeper need to dive to save at the near post.
58' | On USD's third corner of the day, the Coyotes got a shot off inside the six-yard box, but Thielbahr cleared the ball out.
64' | Senior
Ella Frost tried to curl one in but clipped the post. Moritz found the rebound and immediately got a shot off that went over the net.
71' | Off a feed from Goodrich, M. McGowan set up at the edge of the box for beating at outstretched keeper at the near post.
79' | Redshirt senior
Addisyn Hyrup sent a ball into the box from the far left side of the pitch and had it nearly drop into the back of the net, but the USD keeper cleared it out with a fingertip save.
86' | Wissman punched away an initial USD shot, but the Coyotes got a second shot off on the rebound kept out only by the crossbar.
WHAT'S NEXT:
DU (11-5-2, 5-1-2 Summit) will be the No. 2 seed for the 2024 Summit League Women's Soccer Championship and has received a bye through the quarterfinals. The Pioneers will travel to Fargo, North Dakota, for the semifinals on November 7 and will face the winner of the quarterfinal match between No. 3-seeded South Dakota State and No. 6-seeded South Dakota.
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