Illinois-Chicago 1-2 Denver (Ford 39’, Hanlin 75’, Domiciano (pen) 77’)

CHICAGO – Junior centerback Kortne Ford (Greeley, Colo.) headed home a 39^th minute Kenny Akamatsu (Niigata, Japan) corner and redshirt senior Karsten Hanlin (Centennial, Colo.) gave the [13/15] University of Denver men’s soccer team a second to send the Pioneers to a 2-1 win over Illinois-Chicago on Sunday night at Flames Field.

“The game was chippy from the start,” head coach Jamie Franks said. “We showed good fight and I thought the guys really battled well tonight. This wasn’t the prettiest game, but the guys showed a lot of character and completed their objective out there.”  

With the win on Sunday, Denver (3-0-1) finished its four-match road trip against three teams that were at least receiving votes in the national rankings with 10 out of a possible 12 points.

“This trip was a great opportunity to provide our student-athletes with great life experiences,” Franks said. “The support we got from family, friends and alumni made us feel a little bit of home while we were on the road. We matured each day as a team over the course of the trip. Each game provided different adversity, and we were resilient and responded each time.”

Denver improved to 49-2-6 since Franks’ arrival as an assistant in 2012 when scoring first, while DU also stretched its regular season unbeaten streak to 21 matches. DU’s last loss in the regular season came on Oct. 31, 2014, a 1-0 setback at IUPUI.  

“I have myself a complete team,” Franks said. “It’s a total team effort from Sport Performance’s Matt Shaw having the guys fit from day one, to trainer Michael Eckert making sure the guys are healthy on the road for two, two-game weekends to my staff: Zander Deitz, Levi Rossi and Ryan Hopkins and then obviously our fine young men and great student-athletes. To take 32 guys on the road for 12 days like we did and to be able to compete and respond the way we did is a testament to the complete organization that Denver Soccer is.”

Ford got free just inside the penalty spot before halftime and headed home Akamatsu’s second career assist from the corner flag. Ford’s opener was the first career goal for the defender.

Hanlin doubled the Denver advantage in the 75^th minute off assists from sophomore striker Andre Shinyashiki (Sao Paulo, Brazil) and redshirt senior Chandler Crosswait (Bedford, Texas). Hanlin’s goal was the 10^th of his career, while Shinyashiki picked up his fourth career assist and Crosswait tallied his 11^th career helper (third in 2016).

The Flames pulled to within one less than two minutes later as Denver conceded its third penalty on this season-opening four-match road trip. UIC’s Yuri Domiciano netted his first goal of the campaign from the spot in the 77^th minute.

Denver was called for 20 fouls for the first time since November 21, 2013 (21 at Louisville), nine more than its previous season high through the first three games.

“My program would like to thank Jack Weinberg, John Miller and the Underwood’s for being great hosts during this Chicago portion of our trip,” Franks said. “They were all three helpful in making this an enjoyable trip for our group.”