For the final time, the University of Denver Pioneers have found their way back to the top of Summit League men’s soccer.
After scoring four goals in a rout of Oral Roberts a week ago, DU hung the same on the University of Missouri-Kansas City to win the Summit League tournament title, 4-2, on Saturday at University of Denver Soccer Stadium. Eight goals in a single two-game tournament is a conference record.
It was the fifth straight year in which the two Summit League powers faced off in the conference tournament. In last year’s final, the Roos used a last-minute goal to upset the Pioneers before DU made a run to the College Cup semifinal.
With the Pioneers moving to the West Coast Conference next academic year, the final Summit League match of their history, coupled with the prospect of revenge against its other giant, provided plenty of fuel for Saturday’s clash.
“When the news came out that we were going to the West Coast Conference, I think there was a heightened awareness of how important this league was to us,” DU coach Jamie Franks said. “We really made a push that we need to push to win the double (regular-season and tournament titles). Just super proud of the guys.
“We’ve (DU and UMKC) needed each other to continue to grow, to continue to push each other outside of our comfort zone. We’re really appreciative of the rivalry that we have.”
The league has largely run through Denver over the past 10 years, but UMKC has been its greatest challenge. In Summit League play — Franks said a yearly non-conference matchup is much-desired — DU got the last laugh.
Keegan Kelly, voted the NCAA player of the week after a hat trick in last week’s semifinal, wasted no time getting the Pioneers on the board. Aware of the high defensive line UMKC played, Aidan Semelsberger blasted a clearance into the path of Kelly, who had a half-yard on the Roos’ last defender. After a couple of touches and a nifty finish, the Pioneers were up a goal just two minutes in.
Each team earned and converted a penalty by halftime — Jeremy Francou in the 21st minute for UMKC and Kyle McGowan in the 37th for DU. Will King lasered a long shot to the top left corner for goal No. 3 in the 64th minute, then McGowan slotted another penalty home a few minutes later. Francou scored a header in the 74th minute, but the Roos couldn’t get any closer to making it a game.
Like Kelly, who has scored five goals in three games and was named the tournament MVP, McGowan has caught fire as of late. His brace made it five goals in a five-game stretch. The brewing offensive firepower will be important for what is now an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament — the team’s eighth straight berth and 12th in 13 seasons.
“(I’m) feeling great. It’s not really about the goals for myself, it’s about the collective,” McGowan said. “I think as a team, we’re starting to score a lot of goals at the right time. We can’t ask for more than that. … My best friends are about to be done — if we lose, they’re gone. So we’ve just got to fight for one another every single game.”
With a bevy of talent leaving the program to graduation or the pros, the Pioneers (11-7-2) have not reached the pinnacle of performance that the 2024 team did. But as last year’s national champion, Vermont, proved, it’s about getting hot at the right time.
In its last five games, DU is 4-0-1 and has scored 13 goals. DU won’t be seeded nearly as high as its No. 3 mark last year, but it could be a threat to almost anyone in the field. The tournament’s selection show is on Monday.
“If you look to earlier in the season, obviously, results weren’t going our way, but there were still some good performances in there,” Semelsberger said. “What switched for us was the mentality that it doesn’t matter what (the results) look like. I think that’s really been the driving force — eventually, our luck will turn and we will start to put these games to bed.”
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