Denver Women’s Soccer Hosts Pepperdine on Wednesday

Wednesday, October 7

Denver, Colo.

7 p.m. MT

University of Denver

Pepperdine

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Kit Mooney University of Denver Midfielder vs Saint Mary's - September 26, 2026

Photo by: Carter Schwent/Denver Athletics

Denver Women’s Soccer Hosts Pepperdine on Wednesday

10/5/2026 4:50:00 PM | Women's Soccer

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DU set for midweek West Coast Conference match against reigning champion

WHO: Denver (2-6-2, 1-1-0 WCC) vs. Pepperdine (6-3-2, 2-0-0 WCC)
WHAT: DU's only Wednesday-night WCC home match for 2026
WHERE: University of Denver Soccer Stadium (Denver, Colorado)
WHEN: Wednesday, October 7, at 7 p.m. MT

MATCH PROMOTIONS:
Denver will host its annual DU Kicks Cancer match where players will wear ribbons to raise awareness for cancer causes of their choosing. Fans are invited to join the Pioneers in wearing pink or any color for their own causes.

DU students will have two opportunities to win prizes at the match. Before kickoff, the winner of a "flip a cup" tournament will win a voucher for a free hot dog. At halftime, two students will take part in a cup stacking contest with the winner taking home a Denver Athletics backpack from Pepsi.

LAST TIME OUT:
For the first time as a West Coast Conference program, Denver hit the road for a conference match when it visited Santa Clara on October 3, falling to the Broncos, 0-3. SCU took a 1-0 lead off a converted penalty kick in the fourth minute before heading into halftime with a 2-0 advantage. Denver held the home time without a second-half goal until late when a redirected cross found the back of the net in the 88^th minute.

Senior Jaidin Kinch made her second consecutive start for Denver in goal and made a career-high five saves.

QUICK HITS:

Denver is in its first season as a member of the West Coast Conference after completing the transition to its new home on July 1.
- DU spent the last 13 seasons in the Summit League, winning nine regular-season titles – including last year – and four tournament titles.
- DU is now 1-1-0 in its first year as a member of the WCC and 12-18-4 all-time against WCC teams.
Head coach Julianne Sitch is in her fourth year in charge of the Pioneers.
- Thus far, she owns a 31-19-15 record.
Ten Pioneers have at least one point in 2026 so far with Nguyen leading the team with six off her team-best three goals.
- Eight of the 10 have registered the first points of their collegiate careers.
- Sophomore Camila Palacios also has her first point as a Pioneer with her first NCAA assist at DePaul on August 20.
- Freshman Caitlin Staats leads the roster in assists, having helpers in back-to-back matches on August 30 and September 6.
Of Denver's 27 student-athletes on the roster, 24 have seen minutes, eight of whom have made their DU debuts.
- Freshmen Reese Morgan, Staats and Keirra Venson joined Garnsey in being part of the starting XI in the season opener.
- Freshman Jacqui Wilson and sophomores Riley Jeffries and Kroska entered as subs in the season opener as well to make their NCAA debuts.
- Freshman Maeve Morgan became the fifth and final DU first-year student-athlete to see playing time as a sub on September 17.
- Transfers Palacios and Kinch have also played for the first time as Pioneers and each has multiple starts.
This will be Denver's first two-match week more than a month having only played one match per week since hosting Montana on September 6.
- During that stretch, DU posted a 2-3-0 record with wins over Montana and then-RV/No. 25 Saint Mary's.
M. Morgan and R. Morgan each scored a goal in Denver's 2-1 win over Saint Mary's.
- They are believed to be only the second set of NCAA Division I women's soccer players who share a last name but are not related to score in the same match this year (also: Bucknell's Ingrid Murphy and Tennessee Murphy on August 23).
Two former Denver standouts have signed professional contracts this fall.
- Former goalkeeper Alina Santos signed with English club Southampton FC Women in June.
- Former midfielder Isabella Chidiac signed with Australian club Western Sydney FC in September.

ROSTER NOTES:

Sixth-year Samantha Dreiling and senior Nora Zelazny are Denver's captains for 2026.
- Dreiling was a co-captain in 2025. This will be Zelazny's first year as a co-captain.
S. Dreiling leads the roster in career matches played (61), matches started (50) and career minutes (3429).
S. Dreiling was granted a sixth year of eligibility via medical hardship waiver after missing her first two NCAA seasons with injury.
- The NCAA's new "five-in-five" age-based eligibility model allows student-athletes who were on rosters for 2025-26 to use either the new eligibility model or the old model – including redshirts – if it benefits the student-athlete, as is the case for S. Dreiling.
For the third season in a row, Denver has a set of sisters on the roster in S. Dreiling and Grace Dreiling.
- The duo is the fourth pair of sisters to play for Denver and the second to be on the roster at the same time.
- The Dreilings have played in the same match together 10 times – including six times so far in 2026 – and been on the pitch at the same time twice (including once in 2026 at Colorado on September 11).
Despite sharing a last name, freshmen Maeve Morgan and Reese Morgan are not related.
One Pioneer calls California home in sophomore Avery Baker, who hails from Carlsbad, California.

HISTORY VS. PEPPERDINE:

Denver and Pepperdine have met three times previously with the Waves collecting wins in each.
- Wednesday will be the first time in nearly two decades that Denver and Pepperdine will play each other, the last time coming on September 16, 2007 (a 3-0 Pepperdine win at home).
This will be Pepperdine's first trip to Denver.
- All three previous meetings have been held in Malibu, California.

SCOUTING THE WAVES:

Pepperdine is tied atop the West Coast Conference table with six points and a 2-0-0 record.
- In its non-conference schedule, Pepperdine went 4-3-2 and now sits at 6-3-2 on the season.
- On the road, Pepperdine holds a 2-3-1 in 2026 so far.
- Pepperdine is the highest ranked team by NCAA RPI in the WCC, ranking No. 99 at the start of the week.
- The Waves last played to a 3-1 win over Seattle at home on October 3 off goals from Kyra Murphy, Julia Quinonez and Ariana Salvador.
The Waves claimed the West Coast Conference title a season ago, finishing with a one-point lead over Saint Mary's and Portland to earn the WCC's automatic berth into the NCAA tournament.
Quinonez is the Pepperdine lead in goals (8), points (18) and game winners (4).
Jillian Medvecky has nine starts in goal for the Waves and leads the roster with 28 saves and a 1.26 GAA.
Pepperdine head coach Tim Ward is in his 29^th season as an NCAA head coach, all of which have come at Pepperdine and earning him a 326-191-80 record.

WHAT'S NEXT:
Denver plays its second match of the week but its first on the road when it travels to San Diego on Sunday, October 11, at 1 p.m. PT/2 p.m. MT. DU will return to University of Denver Soccer Stadium on Saturday, October 17, for its penultimate home match of the year when it hosts Portland at 1 p.m. MT.

TICKETS
Tickets for the 2026 season are now on sale and are available for purchase online or by visiting the Ritchie Center Box Office.

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