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DU wins in shootout after Falcons’ comeback late in regulation
University of Denver goalkeeper Joe Willis made three saves during the shootout and all three Denver shooters scored as the Pioneers defeated Air Force in the quarterfinals of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Tournament on Thursday night at the University of Denver Soccer Stadium.
Air Force (7-8-2) scored twice in the final 15 minutes of regulation to tie the Pioneers 2-2 and send the game into overtime. After two scoreless overtimes, the game headed into a shootout.
Willis made a diving stop to his left on Air Force’s first shot by Kevin Rosser, while senior midfielder and Pioneer captain Collin Audley drilled a shot into the left side of the goal as Falcons goalkeeper Mike Mauro dove right.
In the second round of the shootout, Air Force midfielder Zane Dydasco scored inside the post just beyond Willis’ reach, and junior defender Michael Perry shot into an open left side of the goal as Mauro went right.
Willis, who was named All-MPSF first team earlier in the day, again guessed correctly on the Falcons’ third try, making a diving save to his left on a shot by Steven Noller.
Senior defender and All-MPSF first-team selection Kris Banghart put Denver’s third shot just under a diving Mauro, giving the Pioneers a 3-1 advantage.
Kevin Durr, who scored the game-tying goal with less than eight minutes remaining in regulation, fired a shot to the left side of the goal, but Willis smothered it to clinch the win for the Pioneers.
“We came out really well in the first half, playing with a great energy and rhythm and were fortunate to head into the locker room with a 2-0 lead,” head coach Bobby Muuss said. “But we came out and played flat for 45 minutes to allow Air Force back into it. We settled things down in the two overtime periods and I’m really proud of the way our guys fought back to advance on penalty kicks. Our goal was to advance to the semifinals, and we did that tonight.”
Freshman forward Alex Tarnoczi scored Denver’s first goal of the night from eight yards out off a pass from Audley just 2:45 into the game.
Junior forward Jesse Henderson gave Denver a two-goal lead in the 39th minute, burying a shot inside the near post off a long pass by freshman midfielder Mark Weigan.
Falcons forward Garrett Getschow cut the Air Force deficit to a single goal with 14:43 remaining in regulation, scoring off a give-and-go with forward Josh Rhynard.
Durr tied the game with 7:48 left in the second half with a free kick five yards outside the top of the box.
Denver (5-9-4) faces No. 2 seed New Mexico in the semifinals at 7:30 tonight. The Lobos edged the Pioneers 2-1 on Oct. 25 at DU in the teams’ only meeting this season.
UNLV 4, SAN JOSE STATE 2: In the first quarterfinal on Thursday night, No. 6 seed Nevada-Las Vegas upset No. 3 seed San Jose State 4-2. UNLV midfielder Stephen Sifuentes stole the ball from the San Jose State defense inside the box and beat goalkeeper Jonathan Lester in the seventh minute. In the 25th minute, UNLV defender Taylor Bowlin fed forward Nicholas DeLeon, who drilled a shot past Lester from 35 yards outs. Rebels forward Nick Marshall received a pass in the box from DeLeon, dribbled around a defender and hit a shot into the lower left corner to give UNLV a 3-0 lead at halftime. San Jose State (9-10-1) got on the board in the 76th minute, when midfielder Ricky Dorrego sent a corner to Nick Cukar for a header inside the near post. The Spartans cut the deficit to two with 6:01 remaining, when forward Colby Moore fed Josh Boemecke for a shot from top of the box to the lower corner of the far post. UNLV advances to the semifinals, where they will face No. 1 seed Sacramento State at 5 p.m. Friday.
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