OMAHA – The [3/2] University of Denver men's soccer program got goals from three different players in a 3-1 win at Creighton on Friday night at Morrison Stadium.
Denver pushed its five-match record on its season-opening six-match road swing to 3-0-2 heading into the finale at [6/4] UCLA on Monday night.
Scoring Summary:
[3] Denver: Bassett 33' (Fisher, Ian Smith), Welch 49' (Bassett, Ian Smith), Willoughby 68' (Akau)
Creighton: Castro 87' (pen)
Significant Stats:
- Isaac Nehme made a season-high four saves in his 29th career victory.
- Nehme's four saves is his most in a game since the 2023 Summit League Semifinal against Kansas City.
- Nehme's 29 wins ties him with Oliver Brown for third in Denver's Division I history.
- Sam Bassett scored his second goal of the season in the opening 45 minutes to put the Pioneers ahead just after the half hour mark. Bassett also provided the primary assist on Denver's second goal.
- Bassett's goal was his 17th career tally to move him into a tie with Nick Hartman and Zach Bolden for sixth on Denver's Division I goals list.
- Bassett also became the sixth Pioneer to 50 career points in the program's Division I history.
- Bassett has four multi-point games in our first five matches.
- Bassett has been involved in (goal or assist) in five of Denver's last seven goals.
- Denver scored first for the fourth time this season and entered the intermission with a 1-0 lead for the third time in the first five matches of this six-match road swing.
- Redshirt freshman Ian Welch made his 2024 debut in the second half on Friday night, his first match since September 1, 2023 against SMU (suffered season ending injury).
- Welch scored his first career goal less than four minutes after coming on.
- Bryce Willoughby scored his first goal of the season and the fifth of his career to make it a 3-0 game in the second half. Willoughby last scored in the 2023 NCAA First Round win over LIU.
- The Pioneers scored three goals for the first time since the 2023 Summit League Semifinal against Kansas City (Nov. 9).
- Denver scored three goals in a true road match for the first time since November 2, 2022 at Lindenwood.
- Ian Smith finished with two assists on the night, his second and third of the season.
- Smith now has 13 assists in his three-year Denver career.
- Lukas Fisher earned his first point of the season, providing the primary assist on Bassett's first-half breakthrough.
- Fisher's assist is the 10th of his career, and his 26th career point.
- Fisher's assist was his first point since September 23, 2023 at St. Thomas.
- Dylan Akau, who scored the second-half equalizer on Sunday at SMU, provided the primary assist on Denver's third goal of the night, his first assist of the season and the seventh of his career.
First Half:
12' Denver got the first official shot of the evening. Ronan Wynne earned a free kick down the Denver right which Sam Bassett crossed into the box. Ben Smith was the first to the half clearance, but his shot from 30 yards out was saved comfortably by the Creighton keeper.
33' Creighton earned a dangerous free kick off a counter attack, but Denver's defense kept tight to their marks and it went out for a goal kick.
33' Off the ensuing goal kick, Ian Smith played it out wide to Lukas Fisher who hit the second runner in the box in Bassett and Bassett slotted home his second of the year to put the Pioneers in-front.
39' Bryce Willoughby had the best first-half chance at a Denver second, but on a tight angle, Willoughby pulled his shot wide of the near post and out for a goal kick.
43' Jackson Castro got Creighton's first shot of the night just over two minutes before halftime, but his attempt from the top of the box was saved by Isaac Nehme down to his left.
Second Half:
49' Coming on as a second-half sub, Ian Welch found the back of the net for the first time in his NCAA career. Ian Smith threw it in to Bassett who played it forward to the run of Welch. Welch got himself an angle and picked out the bottom far corner to double the Pioneers advantage.
55' Nehme's best save of the night so far came minutes after the Denver second, coming off his line quickly and making himself big to limit the scoring opportunity.
57' Bassett appeared to have earned a penalty to setup a Denver third, but following video review, the referee overturned his decision and Creighton restarted play on a drop ball.
68' Willoughby did get the Denver lead to three shortly after the Bassett overturned penalty. A deflected pass fell to the feet of Dylan Akau who quickly played a cross to the back post and Willoughby cashed in on the wide-open header for his first goal of the season.
78' Creighton's Matthew Reed fired a dancing shot from well outside the area, but Nehme stuck with it and tipped it over the bar.
87' Jason Belloli was whistled for a hand ball in the area. Jackson Castro's penalty went off Nehme's hand and into the back of the net to cut the Denver lead to two.
UP NEXT:
The Pioneers will play the sixth and final match of their season opening road swing on Monday night when Denver travels to [6/4] UCLA. Opening kickoff on BTN+ is set for 8 p.m. MT/7 p.m. PT.
TICKET INFORMATION:
Tickets for the 2024 season are on sale now and can be purchased here. Denver opens its home schedule on September 14 against Yale, a 7 p.m. MT kickoff.
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