DENVER – The [6/1] University of Denver men's soccer program will wrap-up its season-long five-match homestand on Saturday afternoon when the Pioneers welcome St. Thomas to the University of Denver Soccer Stadium. The match will kickoff at 1 p.m. MT and be broadcast on the Summit League Network.
Denver is hosting its annual Alumni Weekend festivities in conjunction with Saturday's match before the team departs for Pittsburgh on Sunday.
SERIES HISTORY:
Denver is 3-0-1 all-time against St. Thomas, including a pair of wins by a combined score of 7-0 a year ago. St. Thomas' only result in the series was a 0-0 draw in St. Paul in the 2022 campaign. FULL SERIES
LAST TIME OUT:
The Pioneers opened their Summit League campaign with maximum points at home Wednesday night against conference rivals Oral Roberts. DU got goals from three different players in a 3-2 win that saw first goals of the season from Trevor Wright and Ronan Wynne and the game-winner from forward Oje Ofunrein. FULL RECAP
DENVER STANDS AT THE TOP OF TOP DRAWER SOCCER POLL:
- Denver moved up to No. 1 in the Top Drawer Soccer Poll on September 16, 2024, its second time as the top team in the country in program history. DU kept its spot on Sept. 23 and Sept. 30.
- On October 8, 2018, Denver was the No. 1 team in the Top Drawer Soccer Poll, its first and only No. 1 ranking to date in program history.
- Prior to October, 2018, Denver had been as high as No. 3 to end the College Cup run in 2016.
UNIVERSITY OF DENVER SOCCER STADIUM:
- Denver is 101-21-19 at the University of Denver Soccer Stadium since the stadium opened in 2009.
- The Pioneers are 91-10-13 at home since Franks joined the staff in 2012 and 66-8-10 since he took over as head coach in 2015.
- DU's home opener on September 14 was played in-front of 1,803 fans at DU Soccer Stadium, the most for a men's game in program history.
TOP-10 SINCE 2015
- Denver is 115-36-32 since the start of the 2015 season.
- That record ranks 8th in the country in wins during that span, behind Wake Forest (144), Indiana (134), Clemson (131), Georgetown (126), Stanford (125), New Hampshire (117) and Washington (116) (thru 10/2).
- Of the 16 teams that had at least 100 wins in that span entering the year, Denver has the fourth-fewest losses at 36.
2024 SCHEDULE
- Returning 20 letterwinners and 10 starters from a year ago, head coach Jamie Franks put his program up against the best once again with his 2024 schedule that was announced in June.
- In the regular season, Denver will play 11 opponents that finished in last season's RPI Top-100 (5-0-4), nine from the Top-50 (4-0-4) and four in the Top-20 (1-0-3).
- Eight of Denver's first nine matches are against teams that finished in the top-40 last season (4-0-4).
August 22 at [40] California - W, 2-1
August 25 at [8] Stanford - W, 1-0
August 29 at [35] Washington - T, 2-2
September 1 at [11] SMU - T, 2-2
September 9 at [20] UCLA - T, 0-0
September 14 vs. [29] Yale - W, 4-1
September 19 vs. [16] Portland - T, 0-0
September 22 vs. [33] Seattle - W, 2-1
October 2 vs. [69] Oral Roberts - W, 3-2
October 7 at [38] Pittsburgh
November 2 at [69] Oral Roberts
MAC HERMANN WATCH LIST
- Senior attacking midfielder Sam Bassett was named to the 2024 MAC Hermann Trophy Watch List on August 22.
- Bassett had career highs in goals (8), assists (7) and points (23) in his 2023 All-American season.
- Through the first 10 matches of the season, Bassett has 16 points on five goals and six assists.
- Bassett has been involved in nine of Denver's last 15 goals.
- Bassett enters the match tied for fourth in career goals (20), third in career assists (19) and third in career points (59).
GET ON THE BOARD FIRST
- Denver is 137-10-18 when scoring first since head coach Jamie Franks joined the staff as an assistant in 2012.
- Since Franks took over as the head coach in 2015, the Pioneers are 103-8-12 when scoring first.
- 2015: 14-0-1|2016: 18-0-0|2017: 8-1-0 | 2018: 13-0-1 | 2019: 6-5-1 | 2020: 5-0-0 | 2021: 9-0-3 | 2022: 14-1-2 | 2023: 11-1-3 | 2024: 5-0-1
THE FRANKS FOUNDATION
- Jack and Sheila Weinberg Head Men's Soccer Coach Jamie Franks is in his 10th season as the bench boss and his 13th with the program overall in 2024.
- Franks and his staff were named the 2016 National Coaching Staff of the Year after taking Denver to its first College Cup appearance.
- Franks is 115-36-32 in his time as a head coach, 150-53-40 in his time at Denver overall and 249-80-57 in his time as a player and a coach in college soccer.
- Franks and the Pioneers are 45-5-8 in the Summit League since he took over as head coach in 2015.
- Franks is 6-8-1 in the NCAA Tournament at DU (6-7-0 as HC). As a player and coach, Franks is 22-12-3 in the NCAAs.
- In addition to National Coaching Staff of the Year, Franks is a five-time Summit League Coach of the Year (2015-18, 2023).
- Franks was the youngest head coach in Division I soccer when he was hired in 2015, and the second youngest in 2016 when he took the program to the College Cup.
- Franks led the Pioneers to back-to-back unbeaten regular seasons in his first two years in charge, the first program to go unbeaten in back-to-back regular seasons since Clemson in 1977-78.
- In his first nine seasons, Denver has qualified for the NCAA Tournament eight times and received a bye into the second round three times. Denver has played in the second round six times.
UP NEXT:
Denver will have its quickest turnaround of the season when the Pioneers board a flight on Sunday for a national televised match-up on Monday against [1/3] Pittsburgh. The match will kickoff at 5 p.m. MT and be broadcast on ACC Network.
TICKET INFORMATION:
Tickets for the 2024 season are on sale now and can be purchased here.
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