[9] Denver Wins Third-Straight League Title
DENVER – The [8/7] top-seeded University of Denver men’s soccer team won its third-straight Summit League Championship with a 2-0 win over Oral Roberts on Saturday afternoon at CIBER Field at the University of Denver Soccer Stadium.
Redshirt-senior goalkeeper Dan Jackson (Chapel Hill, N.C.) was named the Summit League Tournament MVP, and was joined on the list of 11 by senior Jordan Schweitzer (Everett, Wash.), redshirt-junior Chandler Crosswait (Bedford, Texas) and redshirt-freshman Scott DeVoss (Centennial, Colo.).
Denver (15-0-3) will find out its NCAA draw during the 2015 NCAA Men’s Soccer Championship Selection Show Monday morning at 11 a.m. MT. The Pioneers will be gathered at the Crimson and Gold Tavern for the selection show, which will be streamed on NCAA.com.
Saturday afternoon’s win stretched Denver’s home unbeaten streak to 29 matches, the longest active streak in the nation, and the 11th-longest in NCAA history. The Pioneers also remained the only unbeaten team in Division I with the victory.
DU’s seventh-straight shutout extended the Pioneers current streak to 702:18, marking the longest run in Denver’s Division I history. Overall, DU's longest match stretch without allowing a goal is eight, in the 1988 campaign (turned DI in 1998). The Pioneers have allowed just seven goals in 2015.
The two teams went into the locker room scoreless with Denver controlling a high percentage of the possession after the opening 10 minutes. The Pioneers had a 4-2 edge in shots heading into the intermission.
Junior Karsten Hanlin (Centennial, Colo.) found the breakthrough early in the second half, netting a 48th-minute 27 yard free kick from just to the right of center to put the Pioneers ahead. Sophomore Alex Underwood (Winnetka, Ill.) drew the free kick in a dangerous area, forcing ORU’s Javo Reyes into a foul outside the area. Hanlin’s opener was his fourth game-winning goal and his third free kick goal of the season.
Hanlin’s goal opened up play in the second half, as the two teams combined for 15 shots in the second act. Denver took five of the match’s six corner kicks.
Underwood made it 2-0 himself off an assist down the right from Crosswait in the 70th minute. Jackson’s drop kick from just inside his 18 started the scoring chance, as Crosswait chipped the second ball over his mark to the run of Underwood. The Pioneer sophomore curled his shot just inside the near post for his third of the campaign and of his career. Crosswait’s assist was his fifth of the season.
Denver’s title was its third in three years in the Summit League, and by winning the 2015 regular season, the Pioneers earned the right to host the postseason tournament once again in 2016.
Men’s Soccer All-Tournament Team:
Amadeo Carbo, WIU
Chandler Crosswait, DU
Scott Devoss, DU
Dan Jackson, DU
Edgardo Mira, ORU
Mark Moulton, UNO
Cole Nelson, UNO
Tarik Salkicic, ORU
Jordan Schweitzer, DU
Drew Whalen, WIU
Alex White, ORU
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