Wednesday, August 5
Denver, Colo.
5 p.m. MT
University of Denver
vs
Colorado Albion SC
Photo by: Sophie Hamill/Denver Athletics
Denver Women’s Soccer Set for Two Preseason Exhibitions
8/4/2026 8:40:00 AM | Women's Soccer
DU to host Colorado’s Albion SC on Wednesday, travel to Wyoming on Sunday
DENVER – The University of Denver women's soccer team will wrap up its 2026 preseason with two exhibitions matches on August 5 and 9.
Denver will begin the week by hosting Albion SC (Colorado) on Wednesday, August 5, at 5 p.m. MT at University of Denver Soccer Stadium. Admission is free for the event.
DU will then make the trip up I-25 to play at Wyoming on Sunday, August 9, at 1 p.m. MT.
The friendlies serve as a final tune-up for the upcoming 2026 NCAA women's soccer season. Wednesday's home exhibition against Albion SC is the first chance to get a look at the 2026 Pioneers until they host their home opener on August 27 against Colorado College.
Denver will begin its season with four consecutive road matches, beginning with its season opener on August 13 at Northern Colorado.
QUICK HITS
Denver will open its 2026 campaign with back-to-back in-state matches, first playing at Northern Colorado on Thursday, August 13, at 7 p.m. MT before visiting Colorado State on Sunday, August 16, at 3 p.m. MT.
DU will not play at home until Thursday, August 27, when it welcomes Colorado College for its home opener. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. MT.
TICKETS
Tickets for the 2026 season are now on sale, starting at $69, and are available for purchase online or by visiting the Ritchie Center Box Office.
Admission is free for the Wednesday, August 5, exhibition against Albion SC.
Denver will begin the week by hosting Albion SC (Colorado) on Wednesday, August 5, at 5 p.m. MT at University of Denver Soccer Stadium. Admission is free for the event.
DU will then make the trip up I-25 to play at Wyoming on Sunday, August 9, at 1 p.m. MT.
The friendlies serve as a final tune-up for the upcoming 2026 NCAA women's soccer season. Wednesday's home exhibition against Albion SC is the first chance to get a look at the 2026 Pioneers until they host their home opener on August 27 against Colorado College.
Denver will begin its season with four consecutive road matches, beginning with its season opener on August 13 at Northern Colorado.
QUICK HITS
- Denver's 2026 roster features nine newcomers.
- Five freshmen join the team for their first NCAA seasons: defender Keirra Venson; midfielders Reese Morgan and Jacqui Wilson; and forwards Maeve Morgan and Caitlin Staats.
- Denver welcomes four transfer student-athletes: goalkeepers Sophia Elfrink (formerly SEMO) and Jaidin Kinch (formerly South Alabama), midfielder Camille Kollar (formerly Idaho State) and forward Camila Palacios (formerly Arkansas).
- DU's 2026 captains are sixth-year Samantha Dreiling and senior Nora Zelazny.
- Dreiling received an additional year of eligibility by way of a medical hardship waiver after missing her first two NCAA seasons (2021, 2022) with injury.
- The NCAA's new age-based eligibility model – sometimes referred to as the "five for five model" – allows for student-athletes who were on rosters for the 2025-26 season to utilize the old eligibility model, which Dreiling has chosen to retain her sixth year.
- The Pioneers went 9-5-4 last year and 6-1-1 in what was their final year in the Summit League, securing a share of the league's regular-season title for the ninth time.
- Among its 2025 highlights was a 0-0 draw in a neutral-site match against Baylor – which finished last year ranked No. 15 in the final NCAA RPI. DU went down to 10 women in the 22nd minute but were able to maintain the clean sheet for the tie.
- Denver also earned a 2-1 upset over then-No. 25-ranked Colorado State in its 2025 non-conference finale, rallying for a goal deficit in the 10th minute to draw even in the 24th before scoring the game winner in the 65th.
- DU's final record did not include its August 28 match against Texas A&M, which was declared a no-contest following an extended weather delay. Denver led, 1-0 in the 68th minute against the woman-down Aggies when the match was suspended.
- Denver is preparing for its inaugural season in the West Coast Conference after completing the transition to its new conference home on July 1.
- DU has spent the last 14 seasons in the Summit League.
- The WCC will be Denver's fourth conference home since becoming an NCAA Division I program in 1999: Summit League (2013-25), Western Athletic Conference (2012) and the Sun Belt (2000-11).
- Albion is a pre-professional club based in Boulder, Colorado, and plays in the USL women's league.
- Multiple Denver student-athletes play with Albion outside of the NCAA season including sophomore Kacey Harvey and seniors Kera Nguyen and Nora Zelazny.
- This will be the third time Denver and Wyoming have met in a fall preseason exhibition and the first since back-to-back seasons in 2011 and 2012.
- DU won both of those preseason meetings, both held in Denver: 2-1 in 2012 and 3-1 in 2011.
- The two teams also faced off in the 2026 spring season in a modified match hosted by DU.
- In regular-season meetings, Denver holds a 3-1-3 record, though the teams last played in a countable match in 2015, which finished in a scoreless draw after extra time.
- Sunday's exhibition will mark DU's first trip to Laramie, Wyoming, since 2003 – a regular-season match that ended in a 1-0 win for the Cowgirls.
- The teams are knotted up at 1-1-1 in matches held at Wyoming – all three as regular-season meetings.
- The 2026 Gatorade High School Women's Soccer Players of the Year from Colorado and Wyoming will both feature in Wednesday's friendly: Denver freshman Reese Morgan and Wyoming freshman Isabel Vesco, respectively.
Denver will open its 2026 campaign with back-to-back in-state matches, first playing at Northern Colorado on Thursday, August 13, at 7 p.m. MT before visiting Colorado State on Sunday, August 16, at 3 p.m. MT.
DU will not play at home until Thursday, August 27, when it welcomes Colorado College for its home opener. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. MT.
TICKETS
Tickets for the 2026 season are now on sale, starting at $69, and are available for purchase online or by visiting the Ritchie Center Box Office.
Admission is free for the Wednesday, August 5, exhibition against Albion SC.
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