DENVER – The No. 1 seed [RV/-] University of Denver men's soccer program welcomes No. 2 seed [21/23] Kansas City for the 2025 Summit League Final on Saturday at 3 p.m. MT at the University of Denver Soccer Stadium. Saturday's match will be streamed live on the Summit League Network.
TICKET OFFER:
Fans that purchase a four-pack of tickets for Saturday's final will score a free scarf while supplies last. Purchase your postseason soccer four-pack now.
DENVER VS. KANSAS CITY HISTORY:
Denver holds an 11-4-4 advantage in the series history, including a 6-3-1 mark at the University of Denver Soccer Stadium. Kansas City won two of the three meetings last season, including the 2024 Summit League Championship game at the University of Denver Soccer Stadium. This season, Denver defeated Kansas City 2-1 on September 27. Saturday's meeting is the fifth postseason match-up between the two programs in the last five years. FULL HISTORY
Summit League Tournament Meetings
2021 (in Macomb): Denver 0-0 Kansas City (DU, 4-3 PKs)
2022 (in Denver): Denver 3-0 Kansas City
2023 (in Tulsa): Denver 3-3 Kansas City (KC, 5-4 PKs)
2024 (in Denver): Denver 1-2 Kansas City
LAST TIME OUT:
Trailing 1-0 at halftime to Oral Roberts in the Summit League Semifinal on Sunday, Bryce Willoughby scored in the 67th minute to level the match before sophomore Keegan Kelly closed out his big week with his first career hat trick to send the Pioneers through to the final with a 4-1 win over the fourth-seeded Golden Eagles. FULL RECAP
DENVER'S CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT HISTORY:
Denver is 18-8-5 (3-2 PKs) in its conference tournament history, including 7-1-2 (1-1) in the championship. Since joining the Summit League in 2013, Denver is 16-1-4 (2-2), including 6-1-2 (1-1) in the final.
KELLY NAMED TOP DRAWER SOCCER NATIONAL PLAYER OF THE WEEK
- Sophomore Keegan Kelly bagged a natural hat trick in Denver's 4-1 Summit League Semifinal win over Oral Roberts on November 9.
- Combine that performance with his equalizer on Wednesday in the regular season finale, Kelly was named the Top Drawer Soccer National Player of the Week on November 11.
- Kelly's hat trick was Denver's 15th in its Division I history.
- Prior to Kelly's hat trick, Oje Ofunrein's hat trick vs. Kansas City in the 2023 Summit League Semifinal was both the last DU hat trick and the league's last hat trick in the tournament.
- The hat trick was the fifth-fastest between goals one and three in the Pioneers record book (21:18).
- Kelly's final two goals marked the first time Denver has scored two goals in the final five minutes of a match in the program's DI era.
- Kelly's final two goals were the 10th-fastest goals scored by the same player in Denver's DI history (2:17).
- In six career postseason games, Kelly has five goals and two assists, and has at least one goal contribution in five of those six games.
DENVER SCORES FOUR IN SECOND-HALF COMEBACK IN SEMI
- In addition to the Keegan Kelly hat trick, Bryce Willoughby scored Denver's first goal of a four-goal second half, leveling the match at 1-1 in the 67th minute.
- The semifinal win marked Denver's first win from a losing position in a conference tournament game since the 2016 Summit League Final that saw Andre Shinyashiki score in the 75th and 90th.
- The four goals in the 2025 Summit League Semifinal were Denver's most in a conference tournament since the 2015 league semfiinal (W, 4-0 vs. Western Illinois).
- The four goal second-half was Denver's 15th four-plus goal half in its Division I history, including its ninth four-goal second half.
- Denver's four second-half goals came in the final 23:41, the latest four-goal half in the program's DI history.
- The Pioneers seven assists, which tied for the third-most in a match in DU history, came from seven different players. The seven different players with an assist is a DU record.
- Denver's win was just its sixth since Jamie Franks joined as an assistant in 2012 that saw the Pioneers trail at halftime and win (6-27-5).
- DU's last win when trailing at halftime came on October 11, 2021 at Virginia (W, 2-1 in OT).
- The Pioneers last regulation win after trailing at halftime came on September 22, 2018 at Omaha (W, 4-3).
TOP-10 SINCE 2015
- Denver is 133-46-35 since the start of the 2015 season.
- That record is good for sixth in the country in wins during that span, behind Wake Forest (159), Indiana (153), Clemson (149), Georgetown (143), Stanford (139).
- Of the 27 teams that had at least 100 wins in that span entering the year, Denver has the seventh-fewest losses at 46.
- Six of Denver's opponents are among the 27 that began the year with 100 wins since the start of the 2015 season.
RECORD BOOK WATCH
- Career Shutouts: Isaac Nehme broke the career shutouts record in the Pios 2024 NCAA Second Round win with his 27th, and now has 34.
- Career Goalkeeper Wins: Isaac Nehme broke the career goalkeeper wins record on August 31 vs. SIUE (2-1), capturing his 43rd victory to pass Nick Gardner (2014-18). Nehme now has 50.
- Career Saves: Isaac Nehme has 180 career saves to sit fourth in Denver's DI history in career saves. Nehme is 10 saves behind Parker Jarvis (1999-01) for third on the list.
- Career Matches Started: Isaac Nehme and Trevor Wright enter Saturday having made 82 career starts. With a start Saturday, the Pioneer duo will sit together in a tie with Scott DeVoss for the program record (2015-18 | 83).
- Career Matches Played: With his next appearance, Dylan Akau will move within two matches of Aidan O'Toole's (2019-23) career appearances record. On October 19, Akau became just the eighth Pioneer in program history to reach 80 career appearances. Wright and Nehme, who became the ninth and 10th players to crack 80 matches played, will make their 83rd appearance on Saturday, tying for third in program history.
UNIVERSITY OF DENVER SOCCER STADIUM
- Denver is 115-23-19 at the University of Denver Soccer Stadium (2009).
- The Pioneers are 105-14-13 in their home stadium since Franks joined the staff in 2012 and 80-10-10 since he took over as head coach in 2015.
- Denver broke the stadium attendance record twice last postseason, playing in-front of 1,875 in its 2024 NCAA Round of 16 game vs. [14] Indiana, before hosting a standing-room only crowd of 2,361 in the Pios 3-0 NCAA Quarterfinal win over UMass.
- Denver is 13-3-1 at home in conference tournament matches.
- Denver is 7-2-0 at home in NCAA Tournament games.
DENVER'S 2025 SUMMIT LEAGUE POSTSEASON AWARDS
DENVER AGAINST RANKED OPPONENTS
- Denver is 27-47-16 in its Division I history against the USC Top-25, going 13-13-3 at home, 13-28-10 on the road and 1-6-4 neutral.
- Under Jamie Franks, Denver is 18-21-9 against ranked opponents, including 9-5-2 at home, 9-14-5 on the road and 0-2-2 at a neutral site.
- The Pioneers are 12-8-4 against teams receiving votes, including 7-5-2 at home, 4-3-2 on the road and 1-0-0 at a neutral site.
- Denver is 4-13-0 against teams ranked in the top-5 in the United Soccer Coaches Poll, including 2-8 in true road games.
- The Pioneers only road win against a top-5 team prior to last season's 1-0 win at No. 5 Stanford came on December 2, 2016 when the fourth-ranked Pioneers beat No. 3 Clemson 1-0 in the NCAA Quarterfinals.
- Denver's last win against a top-5 team prior to last season came in a 3-2 win against No. 3 Washington on August 30, 2018 at DU.
- Denver's first win over a ranked opponent in 2025 came at No. 14 Georgetown on October 7 (GT 1-2 DEN).
DENVER IN THE SUMMIT LEAGUE
- In Summit League regular season play since the Pioneers joined the league in 2013, Denver is 64-9-10.
- Since Jamie Franks took over in 2015, Denver is 55-7-9.
- Denver has won 11 of a possible 13 regular season titles since joining the league.
- The Pioneers have won 13 conference regular season titles and eight conference tournament titles in their Division I history (1999).
- Since joining the Summit League in 2013, the Pioneers have won 11 regular season titles and eight Summit League Tournament titles.
- The Summit League added 2024 NCAA Quarterfinalist UMass and Delaware to the league in 2025.
Up Next:
Denver has earned at least the two seed in this season's Summit League Men's Soccer Tournament, and will host the league semifinal on Sunday at 1 p.m. MT. The Pioneers seed and opponent will be determined following Wednesday's matches.
Tickets:
Tickets for Sunday's Summit League Semifinal at the University of Denver Soccer Stadium are on sale now, and can be purchased here.
Summit League Network:
Denver men's soccer will have its games streamed on the Summit League Network and the Midco Sports App 11 times during the 2025 campaign. Subscribe to the league streaming service today.
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