DENVER – The [6/1] University of Denver men's soccer program used a stretch of four goals in a 14:46 time span on either side of halftime to pull away from St. Thomas 5-0 on Saturday afternoon at the University of Denver Soccer Stadium.
Scoring Summary
[6] Denver: Ofunrein 20' (Ian Smith, Bassett), Schommer 40' (Ian Smith, Wright), 53', Welch 47' (Schommer, Bassett), Bassett 55' (Ian Smith, Wright)
Key Notes:
- Denver's five goals tied for the program's ninth-most goals in a game, and was its first 5+ goal performance of the season.
- The Pioneers eight assists as a team on Saturday tied the school record, matching Denver's eight against Oral Roberts in November, 2018.
- Ian Smith tied the program record for assists in a single match with three, matching Nat Borchers (November, 2002), Matt Kirby (September, 2009), Graham Smith (September, 2017) and Jacob Stensson (November, 2018) previous performances.
- The Pioneers scored two goals in the second half that were 2:29 apart.
- Oje Ofunrein scored for the second-consecutive match, opening the scoring in the 20th minute for his fifth goal of the season.
- Ofunrein's career point total moved to 39, tying him with Kellan Christensen for 12th in Denver's Division I history.
- The striker's goal was the 18th of his career, moving into a tie with Brian Todd for sixth in Denver's Division I history.
- Ofunrein's game-winner was the seventh of his career, moving into a four-way tie for fourth in Denver's DI history.
- Tyler Schommer scored his first goal of the season to double the Pioneers advantage in the first half.
- Schommer added a second in the second half to complete his first career brace and bring his career goal total to three.
- Schommer added an assist in the second half as well for a five-point afternoon.
- Ian Smith earned the primary assists on three goals on Saturday afternoon to bring his total to five on the weekend and eight on the season.
- Smith took his career total to 19 assists to move him into fourth in Denver's Division I history.
- Sam Bassett finished with a goal and two assists on the afternoon to bring his season totals to six goals and eight assists.
- Bassett's career points total moved him to 63 on Saturday, two behind Kyle Christensen for second on Denver's Division I list.
- Bassett's career goal total moved to 21, two behind Matt Harrell for third on Denver's Division I list.
- Bassett's 21 assists moved him into second on Denver's Division I list and one behind Zach Bolden for the DU record.
- Ian Welch scored his second goal of the season to make it a 3-0 Denver lead in the second half. The goal was the third of his career.
- Trevor Wright had his first two assists of the season in the win, bringing his career total to four with his first multi-assist game of his career.
First Half:
9' Ian Smith got the first clear chance of the opening 10 minutes, but his shot from just inside the box sliced well wide of the target.
13' Sam Bassett got Bryce Willoughby in behind on the left side of the box, but the pass took him out to wide and decreased the angle. Willoughby's shot was kept out by the UST keeper and out for a corner.
20' Another good piece of build-up play led to the Pioneers much deserved breakthrough. Bassett sprayed it out wide to Ian Smith, who got his cross on the ground to the back post to the run of Oje Ofunrein, who slotted home his fifth goal of the season.
26'
Dylan Akau nearly doubled the lead just minutes later, taking a volley in the air from a cross to the back post, but his attempt rattled the underside of the crossbar before being deflected out for a corner.
40'
Trevor Wright sprayed the ball down the Denver left channel to the run of
Ian Smith. Instead of getting to the end line this time, Smith played an early service into the center of the box right and to the path of
Tyler Schommer, who finished it first time and took a push from behind for his troubles to double the Pioneers first-half lead.
Denver outshot St. Thomas 11-1 in the opening 45 minutes, had a 5-1 edge in corners and took the two-goal advantage into the intermission. The Pioneers had a 65-35 possession edge in the first half.
Second Half:
47' Ian Welch gave Denver a perfect start to the second half to make it 3-0 with his second of the campaign. Bassett hit it down the left to the run of Schommer who paced his cross to the run of Welch who found the open part of the net.
50' Welch appeared to score a second just minutes later, but the goal was ruled out for a handball as Welch settled down the cross.
53'
Ronan Wynne played a direct ball to the vertical run of Schommer to setup Denver's fourth. His first attempt was saved, but he got his own rebound, knocked it past the keeper and into the open net for his first career multi-goal game.
55' Just a couple of minutes later, Wright found the run of
Ian Smith once more down the Denver left. Smith played it into Bassett, who touched it to himself to setup his right foot and picked out the far corner to make it 5-0 Pioneers.
87' Former three-year manager
Iain Magruder, who earned a roster spot this season, made his collegiate debut.
UP NEXT:
The Pioneers will hit the road for the first time since September 9 when Denver takes on [1/3] Pittsburgh. The game will be broadcast nationally on the ACC Network, and will kickoff at 5 p.m. MT.
TICKET INFORMATION:
Tickets for the 2024 season are on sale now and can be purchased here.
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