WHO: [2] Denver (9-4-4, 6-1-1 Summit) vs. [3] South Dakota State (11-2-6, 4-1-3 Summit)
WHAT: 2025 Summit League Semifinal
WHERE: Case Soccer Complex (Tulsa, Okla.)
WHEN: Thursday, November 6, at 1 p.m. CT/12 p.m. MT
 
LAST TIME OUT:
Denver scored twice in the final eight minutes to complete a come-from-behind 2-1 win against South Dakota in the regular-season finale on October 26, securing for DU a share of the Summit League regular-season title for the ninth time. Just 10 minutes after USD opened the scoring, Denver senior Brooke Ahern headed home the equalizer at 82:23. Less than three minutes later, redshirt junior Hannah Tate pushed the ball past the USD keeper for the eventual game winner at 85:16.
 
QUICK HITS:

• Denver has won the Summit League tournament title four times, most recently in the COVID-delayed 2020 season.
  • Seven times, DU has advanced to the Summit League final, also most recently in 2020.
  • Denver is a top-two seed for the Summit League Championship for the 11^th time and will meet the No. 3-seeded South Dakota State in the semifinals for the second year in a row.
  • DU is 10-2-6 all-time in the Summit League tournament.
  • This will be the ninth time DU has played a neutral-site match during the Summit League tournament.
  • Entering Thursday's semifinal, Denver has outscored its opponents, 36-14, in the Summit League tournament and owns nine clean sheets.
  • This weekend's tournament will be Denver's final as a member of the Summit League after announcing that the University of Denver will join the West Coast Conference for the 2026-27 season.
• DU enters as a Summit League regular-season champion for the ninth time after tying atop the League table with Oral Roberts, each with 19 points.
• Five Pioneers earned All-Summit League Team honors, which were announced last week, highlighted by Tate as Midfielder of the Year and redshirt junior Emma Thielbahr as Defensive Player of the Year.
  • Senior Isabella Chidiac – who is tied for No. 17 nationally in total assists – joins Tate and Thielbahr on the All-Summit League First Team.
  • Redshirt junior Alina Santos collected second-team honors.
  • Freshman Annie Philbin picked up an honorable mention, as well as a place on the All-Newcomer Team.
• Ahern scored her team-high-tying fourth goal of the year in the match against South Dakota, and all four of her goals have been equalizers.
  • She is believed to be the only women's NCAA Division I player with at least three equalizers in 2025 and the only to have had all of her goals be equalizers.
• Santos returns to the Denver squad after missing the USD match while playing with the New Zealand National Team for friendlies against the United States and Mexico from October 23-29.

SCOUTING THE JACKRABBITS:
No. 3 seed South Dakota State earned its place in the Summit League semifinals with a 1-0 win at home against No. 6 seed Omaha in the quarterfinals on November 1. The match's only goal came from Jenna Maloy in the seventh minute.
 
Denver earned a 1-0 win in its 2025 regular-season meeting with South Dakota State, earning a 21^st-minute goal from freshman Lilly Lund to claim the victory at home on October 9. With the win this season, DU has won three of the last four meetings against the Jackrabbits.
 
SDSU is Denver's most common opponent in the Summit League tournament. The teams have met five times previously in the tournament including also as the Nos. 2 and 3 seeds a season ago where SDSU withstood a late Denver push to claim a 2-1 win in Fargo, N.D.
 
UP NEXT:
The winner of Thursday's match between Denver and South Dakota State will advance to the Summit League final on Sunday, November 9, and will face the winner of the semifinal between No. 1 Oral Roberts and No. 5 Kansas City, which is set for Thursday, November 6, at 7:30 p.m. CT/6:30 p.m. MT.