DENVER – The No. 3 seed University of Denver men's soccer program welcomes UMass to the University of Denver Soccer Stadium for a date in the NCAA Quarterfinal on Saturday at 1 p.m. MT.  
 
Denver defeated No. 14 seed Indiana 1-0 last Saturday and Gardner-Webb 3-0 the weekend before to reach the quarterfinal stage, while UMass beat Evansville (2-1), No. 6 Penn (1-0) and No. 11 Virginia (1-0) to get to the final eight. Saturday's NCAA Tournament date marks the first ever meeting between the two programs.

FAN INFORMATION: 
Ticket Information: Tickets remain available and are on sale now. Following last week's near capacity crowd, fans are encouraged to purchase in advance to secure their seat for the first home national quarterfinal in program history.  | PURCHASE HERE
Pregame Tailgate: The pregame tailgate will begin at 11:30 a.m. MT in the Ritchie Center North Circle. Food and drinks will be available for purchase. 
Arrive Early: There are multiple concurrent events on campus on Saturday afternoon, so fans are encouraged to arrive early so they don't miss a minute of Saturday's action. The University of Denver Soccer Stadium opens at 12 p.m. 
Parking Information: Parking will be available for the NCAA Quarterfinal in both lots C and L. Parking is $10, cash or credit. Parking lots open at 11 a.m. | PARKING MAP
Together for Colorado Toy Drive Shop 'N Drop: From 9-11 a.m. on the North Circle is the 2024 Together For Colorado Toy Drive Drop N' Shop at the Buchtel Circle outside the Ritchie Center. MORE INFORMATION
 
LAST TIME OUT:
Freshman Keegan Kelly scored in the ninth minute and Denver's back-five held Indiana to just two shots on target in a 1-0 win in the NCAA Round of 16 in-front of a stadium record and near capacity crowd at the University of Denver Soccer Stadium last Saturday.
 
DENVER IN THE NATIONAL QUARTERFINALS

• Denver is set to make its third appearance in the national quarterfinals on Saturday, with the previous 2 coming in 1970 and 2016.
• The Pios lost to UCLA 3-1 in the 1970 quarterfinal.
• Denver won at Clemson 1-0 in 2016 to reach its first ever College Cup.

 
NCAA Tournament History (9-11-1)

Year	Round	Opponent	Result
1970	Round of 16	vs. San Jose State	W, 2-1
1970	Quarterfinal	at UCLA	L, 3-1
2008	First Round	at UC Davis	L, 4-0
2010	First Round	at UC Santa Barbara	L, 1-0 (a.e.t.)
2013	First Round	at Louisville	T, 0-0 (LOU 3-2 Pens)
2014	First Round	at Oregon State	L, 1-0
2015	Second Round	SMU [13]	L, 1-0 (a.e.t.)
2016	Second Round	UNLV [6]	W, 3-0
2016	Round of 16	[11] Washington [6]	W, 2-1
2016	Quarterfinals	at [3] Clemson [6]	W, 1-0
2016	Semifinals	vs. [2] Wake Forest [6]	L, 2-1 (a.e.t.)
2018	Second Round	Air Force [15]	L, 1-2
2019	First Round	at Missouri State	L, 0-1
2020	First Round	vs. UNC Greensboro	Withdrew (COVID)
2021	First Round	at Grand Canyon	W, 1-0
2021	Second Round	at [8] Clemson	L, 0-1
2022	First Round	San Diego	W, 1-0 (a.e.t.)
2022	Second Round	at [7] Duke	L, 1-3
2023	First Round	LIU	W, 2-1
2023	Second Round	at [6] SMU	L, 1-2
2024	Second Round	Gardner-Webb [3]	W, 3-0
2024	Round of 16	[14] Indiana [3]	W, 1-0
2024	Quarterfinal	UMass [3]	1 p.m. MT

 
Home: 6-2-0
Away: 2-8-1 (0-1 PKs)
Neutral: 1-1-0
First Round: 3-4-1 (0-1 PKs)
Second Round: 2-5-0
Round of 16: 3-0-0
Quarterfinals: 1-1-0
Semifinals: 0-1-0
 
TOP-10 SINCE 2015

• Denver is 123-39-32 since the start of the 2015 season.
• That record is good for sixth in the country in wins during that span, behind Wake Forest (152), Indiana (142), Clemson (141), Georgetown (133), Stanford (126), and in a tie with New Hampshire (122) and Seattle (122).
• Of the 16 teams that had at least 100 wins in that span entering the year, Denver has the fifth-fewest losses at 39.

 
THE MIDDLE 60

• Denver has outscored opponents 33-9 in the middle 60 minutes of matches this season.
• Since Jamie Franks arrived at DU as an assistant in 2012, Denver has a 285-141 edge during the 16th-75th minutes.
• This year, Denver has outscored opponents 12-3 between the 16th and 30th minutes and 10-2 in the first 15 minutes of the second half.

 
RECORD BOOK WATCH

• Career Points: Sam Bassett will finish his career second on Denver's Division I list for career points. He currently sits at 71 (23G-25A), 46 points behind record holder Andre Shinyashiki (2015-18). Oje Ofunrein enters the match ninth on the list with 45, one point behind Brian Todd (1998-99) for eighth and three points behind Nick Hartman (1999-02) for seventh.
• Career Goals: Sam Bassett is tied for third in career goals with 23, four behind Kyle Christensen (2003-08) for second. Oje Ofunrein is fifth, two behind his teammate Bassett to three behind Matt Harrell (1999-01).
• Career Assists: Sam Bassett broke Denver's DI career assists record on October 30 against Kansas City. He enters the match with 25.
• Career Game-Winners: Oje Ofunrein is tied for third in game-winning goals with 8, one behind Zach Bolden (2010-13) for second and 11 behind Andre Shinyashiki's (2015-18) record of 19. Sam Bassett has six, one out of the top-5 in Denver's DI history.
• Career Matches Started: Ben Smith's next start will be his 70th, putting him in a tie for 12th in Denver's DI history with former captain Jordan Schweitzer.
• Career Shutouts: Isaac Nehme's broke the career shutouts record in the Pios NCAA Second Round win with his 27th, and now has 28.
• Career Goalkeeper Wins: Isaac Nehme enters the match with 40 wins, two shy of Nick Gardner's (2014-18) record of 42.
• Single Season Points: Sam Bassett is fourth in Denver's DI history with 28 points this season, one shy of Zach Bolden (2013) for third.
• Single Season Assists: Sam Bassett broke the single-season assists record in Denver's NCAA Second Round win over Gardner-Webb, and currently sits on 12.

 
KELLY'S HOT START TO NCAA'S

• True freshman Keegan Kelly scored in each of Denver's first two NCAA Tournament wins this year, becoming the first Pio to score in back-to-back NCAA Tournament matches in the program's DI history.
• Kelly's diving header in the 24th minute was the second goal in a 3-0 win over Gardner-Webb in the second round.
• Kelly's game-winner against [14] Indiana in the NCAA Round of 16 came in the ninth minute, his fourth goal of the season.
• Kelly scored back-to-back goals to open the season at Cal and at Stanford.
• Kelly joins Kortne Ford, Andre Shinyashiki and Kengo Ohira as the only Pios to score two NCAA Tournament goals in program history.

 
BASSETT'S MILESTONE MATCH

• In Denver's Round of 16 win over [14] Indiana on November 30, Sam Bassett became the 17th Pio in the program's modern DI history to make 75 career appearances.

 
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.
• This season Bassett has 28 points on eight goals and 12 assists.
• Bassett was named the No. 1 player in the country in the Top Drawer Soccer.com midseason Top-100 player rankings.
• Bassett enters the match third in career goals (23), has the record in career assists (23) and is second in career points (69) in Denver's Division I history.

 
UNIVERSITY OF DENVER SOCCER STADIUM

• Denver is 106-22-19 at the University of Denver Soccer Stadium (2009)
• The Pioneers are 96-13-13 at home since Franks joined the staff in 2012 and 71-9-10 since he took over as head coach in 2015.
• Denver broke the stadium attendance record in its NCAA Round of 16 game vs. [14] Indiana, playing in-front of 1875.
• Denver is 6-2-0 at home in NCAA Tournament games.
• The Pioneers have trailed for 3:10 at home this season. :13 in Summit League Final vs. Kansas City and 2:57 in a 4-1 win over Yale.

 
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 123-39-32 in his time as a head coach, 158-56-40 in his time at Denver overall and 257-83-57 in his time as a player and a coach in college soccer.
• Franks is 8-8-1 in the NCAA Tournament at DU (8-7-0 as HC). As a player and coach, Franks is 24-12-3 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 10 seasons, Denver has qualified for the NCAA Tournament nine times and received a bye into the second round four times. Denver has played in the second round now seven times.

 
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