DENVER – The [RV/-] University of Denver men's soccer program exercised last year's Summit League Final demons in convincing fashion with a 4-2 win over [21/23] Kansas City in the 2025 Summit League Men's Soccer Championship on Saturday evening at the University of Denver Soccer Stadium.
Goals:
[RV] Denver: Kelly 2' (Semelsberger), McGowan 37' (pen), 67' (pen), King 64'
[21] Kansas City: Francou 21' (pen), 74' (Fernandez, Gosch)
Notes:
- Keegan Kelly scored the opener 1:15 in, Denver's fourth-fastest goal in its NCAA Division I history and its fastest in its postseason history.
- Kelly's goal was his fifth in the last three matches and his fifth of the season.
- Kelly's goal was also the ninth of his career.
- Aidan Semelsberger's assist on the Kelly opener was his second of the tournament and his fifth of the season.
- Kyle McGowan converted a penalty kick in the final minutes of the first half, his first career successful penalty and his eighth goal this season.
- McGowan converted Denver's fourth of the season from the spot as well, his ninth goal of the campaign.
- Will King scored his second goal of the season and of his career to make it 3-1 Denver in the 64th minute.
- Three-time Summit League Goalkeeper of the Year Isaac Nehme earned career win number 51.
- Denver improved to 116-23-19 at the University of Denver Soccer Stadium, including 106-14-13 since Jack and Sheila Weinberg Head Men's Soccer Coach Jamie Franks joined the staff in 2012 and 81-10-10 since he took over as head coach in 2015.
- Saturday's trophy is Denver's ninth Summit League Tournament title and its 20th trophy overall in 13 years in the league.
- Denver improved to 28-47-16 in its Division I history against top-25 opponents, including 14-13-3 at home. Under Franks, Denver is 19-21-9 against ranked opponents, including 10-5-2 at home.
- The attendance was 1,063 was the eighth-largest postseason crowd in Denver's history.
First Half:
2' From his own defensive penalty area, Aidan Semelsberger played a long ball over everyone into Denver's attacking half for Keegan Kelly to run onto. Kelly took a heavy first touch but was able to get to the ball first before the keeper and slid it past him for the opener.
21' Kansas City leveled the match on a penalty conceded by Trevor Wright on the right side of the area. The call wasn't called on the field but, after review, resulted in a penalty kick. Jeremy Francou sent Isaac Nehme the wrong way and converted the penalty.
37' Luke Schultz earned a penalty on the other end of the field, and it was Kyle McGowan that stepped up to the spot to convert it to put Denver back in front.
Both teams took five shots in the opening 45 minutes.
Second Half:
46' Bryce Willoughby wasted no time creating Denver's first attacking chance of the second half, cutting across his guy at the top of the box and going for a curler inside the far post that just missed outside the woodwork.
57' Kelly was taken out eight yards outside the box to earn Denver an attacking free kick. Ian Welch took the free kick and rattled the woodwork to the post to his right.
61' Kelly and Willoughby got in behind on a two-on-one. Willoughby slid a pass across to Kelly, who had his shot blocked by a sliding defender in front and out for a corner.
64' Will King finally gave Denver's lead the cushion it deserved after the hour mark, picking off a pass in the defensive half and dribbling all the way to the top of his attacking box before picking out the top corner to make it 3-1 Denver.
67' Less than three minutes later, Schultz poked it around his defender and was pulled down in the box for Denver's second penalty of the night. McGowan stepped up and converted again to make it a 4-1 Denver lead.
74' Kansas City pulled one back to cut the DU lead to 4-2 when Miguel Fernandez and Bryson Gosch exchanged passes at the top of the box before a Fernandez cross found the head of Francou for his second goal of the night.
Up Next:
Denver will await the 2025 NCAA Tournament draw that is set for Monday, November 17, at 11 a.m. MT. The event will be streamed on NCAA.com.
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