Loomis’s 90th-Minute Leads Denver to 1-0 Win

September 5, 2014

DENVER – Freshman Jocelyn Loomis (Sandy, Utah) scored a late goal for the second-consecutive Friday, netting her 16-yard strike in the 90th minute to send the University of Denver women’s soccer team to a 1-0 win over Detroit on Friday night at CIBER Field at the University of Denver Soccer Stadium.

“It’s good to open up (the home-stretch) with a win,” head coach Jeff Hooker said. “As exciting as that was, we got a little frustrated. One of our goals was to come out and not give up a goal in the first half, but to get one. The final pass for us in the first half wasn’t great, and the crosses weren’t fantastic, but the effort was very, very good.”

Denver (2-2-1) outshot Detroit (1-2-1) 7-2 in the opening 45 minutes, with both teams creating a couple quality scoring chances in the first stanza. The Pioneers would go on to hold a 3-2 shot advantage in the second half and a 10-4 difference on the Titans after 90 minutes.

Senior centerback Sam Harder (Centennial, Colo.) nearly found the breakthrough in the 51st minute, but her 30 yard free kick from the center of the field, a position that she hit the cross bar from a week ago, was just wide.

Loomis scored with 54 seconds left on the clock, three seconds more than was on the timer in the second period of extra time last Friday at Cal State Fullerton. The Sandy, Utah native made a run down the right, receiving a pin-point accurate through ball from senior outside back Shelby Wesley (Aurora, Colo.). Just before the endline, Loomis spun her defender, made a run towards the 18, and uncorked her shot off a slight deflection from a Detroit defender and into the upper-left corner. The goal was the freshman’s third of the season.

Sophomore Cassidy Rey (Arcadia, Calif.) and the Pioneers kept their first clean sheet of the season, limiting Detroit to four shots and only one on target.

“Every game we’ve taken the lead, and every game (before tonight) we’ve given up the lead,” Hooker said. “I think the goal of the back four and keeper more than anything else was, ‘let’s get a shutout tonight.’ That’s just baby steps. We’ve shown that we can score goals, we just need (to continue) to tighten things up in the back.”

Freshman Makenzie Bothner (Park City, Utah) made her second-consecutive start at left back for the injured Stella Norman (Lakewood, Colo.), who has missed the last three games. Freshman Jackie Dutton (Windsor, Calif.) made her third-consecutive start for injured centerback Paige Diamond (Pleasanton, Calif.).

The DU women’s soccer program will make its Altitude debut on Sunday when the Pioneers host [RV/24] Kansas at CIBER Field for a 12:05 p.m. kickoff. The Jayhawks defeated Colorado 2-1 in the second period of extra time on Friday in Boulder.

Denver will honor former Rockies executive Keli McGregor at halftime of Sunday’s match against Kansas.

Don't miss out on Pioneer soccer action this fall. Season and individual game tickets are on sale now. Fans interested in purchasing tickets can do so by phone at 303-871-2336, in person at the Richie Center box office or through DenverPioneers.com by clicking here.

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