DENVER – The University of Denver men's soccer team will close out a stretch of five of its first seven matches at home when the Pioneers welcome Mercer to the University of Denver Soccer Stadium on Sunday afternoon. Sunday's match is the second half of a women's (12 p.m. MT)and men's (3 p.m. MT) double header. Denver's two soccer matches on Sunday will be streamed on the Summit League Network.

DENVER VS. MERCER SERIES HISTORY:
Sunday marks the first meeting between the two programs.

LAST TIME OUT:
Denver scored a goal on either side of the intermission in a 2-1 win over Cal Poly on Monday night at the University of Denver Soccer Stadium. Kyle McGowan and David Biggers both scored their first goals of the season in the win. 

KELLY CALLED INTO NEW ZEALAND U-20S FOR 2025 WORLD CUP

• Sophomore Keegan Kelly was named to the New Zealand U-20 National Team squad on September 11 for the upcoming 2025 FIFA U-20 World Cup set to begin in Chile later this month.
• Denver's match on September 14th vs. Mercer is his final match with the Pioneers before leaving for international duty on September 16.
• New Zealand's group stage matches are Sept. 27 vs. Chile (FS2), Sept. 30 vs. Egypt (Fox Soccer Plus) and Oct. 3 vs. Japan (FS2).
• Kelly scored four goals and had three assists in 21 matches in his freshman season, including goals in back-to-back NCAA Tournament matches against Gardner-Webb and Indiana  - the first Pioneer to score in back-to-back postseason games in program history.
• Kelly joined Kortne Ford, Andre Shinyashiki and Kengo Ohira, and the quartet were later joined by Sam Bassett as the only Pios to score two NCAA Tournament goals in program history.

UNIVERSITY OF DENVER SOCCER STADIUM

• Denver is 110-23-19 at the University of Denver Soccer Stadium (2009)
• The Pioneers are 100-14-13 in their home stadium since Franks joined the staff in 2012 and 75-10-10 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 7-2-0 at home in NCAA Tournament games.

LIMITING CHANCES

• Denver has held opponents to two shots or less 13 times in its DI era.
• The Pioneers have held opponents without a shot on goal 23 times in their Division I history, including three times during the 2023 season.
• In the 2024 season opener, Denver didn't allow Cal to put a shot on target until right before the 83rd minute Bears goal.
• In Denver's win over No. 5 Stanford on August 25, Denver didn't allow a shot on target in the final 71 minutes of the match.
• Denver held St. Thomas to just one shot, and no shots on goal in the match in Minnesota on Oct. 26, 2024.
• The Pioneers held [14] Indiana to just two shots on goal in the NCAA Round of 16 win on November 30, both of which came in the final 15.
• Denver allowed just one shot on goal against Cal Poly on September 8, the Mustangs' goal in the 90th minute.

2025 REGULAR SEASON SCHEDULE

• Jamie Franks has put his program up against the best once again with his 2025 schedule that was announced in July.
• Denver's opponents combined for a 173-99-73 record a year ago, and had an RPI average of 54.5.
• The Pios play 10 NCAA Tournament teams from last season, including six that got to at least the third round and a pair of NCAA Quarterfinal opponents in Pittsburgh and UMass.
• Nine of Denver's opponents appeared in the United Soccer Coaches' Preseason Poll.
• In the regular season, Denver will 14 opponents that finished in last season's RPI in the Top-100 (three more than last season), eight from the Top-50 (one less than 2024) and five in the Top-20 (one more). 
• Denver's 2025 results against teams that finished 2024 in the top-100.

                                August 21 vs. [28] Washington – W, 2-0

                                August 24 at [11] Stanford – L, 1-2

                                August 28 vs. [20] San Diego – L, 2-3

                                August 31 vs. [62] SIUE – W, 2-1

                                September 5 at [55] Creighton – L, 0-2

                                September 19 at [81] Portland

                                September 22 at [52] Seattle

                                September 27 vs. [24] Kansas City

                                October 4 at [23] UMass

                                October 7 at [3] Georgetown

                                October 14 at [4] Pittsburgh

                                October 19 at [14] Virginia

                                October 25 at [79] Omaha

                                November 1 vs. [59] Oral Roberts

Up Next:
The Pioneers will return to the road next week for a trip to the Pacific Northwest. Denver heads to nationally-ranked Portland on Friday night for an 8 p.m. MT kickoff before traveling to Seattle for a Monday night 8 p.m. MT kickoff on September 22.

Tickets:
Tickets are on sale now for the 2025 Denver men's soccer season. Purchase tickets for the home opener and the rest of the 2025 campaign 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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