OMAHA – The No. RV/15 University of Denver men's soccer team fell to Creighton 2-0 on Friday night at Morrison Stadium.

Scoring Summary:
[RV] Denver:
Creighton: Reed 80' (Kokoszka, Shimonishi), Arilla 89' (Reed) 

Notes
-          Creighton outshot Denver 12-7, but it was the Pios that had a 5-4 edge in shots on goal.
-          Creighton outshot Denver 4-2 in the opening 45 minutes, but Denver's defense blocked three of the four, and the other one was off target.
-          The Pioneers held a 2-0 edge in shots on goal at the intermission, and a 2-0 margin in corner kicks.
-          Denver was shutout on Friday night for the first time in 15 matches (Oct. 12, 2024 at Kansas City). 

First Half:
6' Bryce Willoughby, who scored in the Pioneers visit to Creighton a year ago, got the first shot on target on Friday night. On the counter, the Pioneers got it out wide to the run of Willoughby, who turned inside and took a shot from the top of the box, bouncing it right in-front of the keeper, who was able to control the rebound.
22' Creighton's first shot that wasn't blocked by a Denver defender came off the foot of Ayden Kokoszka, but his attempt missed high and right of Isaac Nehme's goal and went out for a goal kick.
26' Denver looked to strike on the counter again, this time through the run of Keegan Kelly, but the sophomore was outnumbered 3-on-1, and he didn't get all of his attempt and bounced it a couple times into the keeper's arms.

Second Half:
49' Creighton earned the first corner of the second half. The first didn't clear the first defender, and the second attempt from the flag was cleared out on two touches from the Denver backline.
52' Following a VAR review that saw Nehme save a ball off the line and go down with an injury after taking a shin to the head, Denver countered the other way with another goal scorer from Denver's visit to Creighton last year in Ian Welch. Tyler Schommer fed the ball to Welch at the top corner of the box, and Welch had a hit from distance that was directed towards the top corner of the far post, but Matthew Hudson made a diving save and pushed it wide for a corner.
53' On the ensuing corner, Schommer got a free header at the near post, but Hudson again was up to the task, diving to his right to make the save, and the Creighton defense was able to clear the danger.
58' Creighton's fifth corner of the night went to the near post and Brady Bragg got on the end of it, but his header couldn't beat the near post and went in behind for a goal kick.
59' Creighton's best chance of the opening hour came off a Denver blocked shot. Todd Vromant was the first to the ball after the Denver block and got a clean look from a low angle and Nehme made a kick save, and the Pioneers were able to clear.
80' On just its second shot on goal of the night, Creighton took the lead on a long throw in from the left side. Ryusei Shimonishi threw it in to the corner of the six-yard box and Ayden Kokoszka headed it straight up in the air. Matthew Reed out jumped a box out in the Denver penalty area and headed it past Nehme for the breakthrough.
88' Will King had Denver's final chance of the night from the top of the box, but he pulled the bouncing ball wide of the target.
89' Creighton doubled its advantage late on Miguel Arilla's second goal of the season. Reed got Arilla in behind, and Arilla snuck his shot low and hard past Nehme for the Jays' second.

Up Next:
Denver will return home on Monday night when the Pioneers welcome Cal Poly to the Mile High City for a 6 p.m. MT kickoff. The match serves as Denver's Pepsi Kickoff event, and is also the program's Faculty, Staff and Retiree Night. Monday night's match will be streamed live on the Summit League Network. 

Ticket Information:
Tickets are on sale now for the 2025 Denver men's soccer season. Purchase tickets for the rest of the 2025 campaign here.

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