[5] Denver 2-0 Western Illinois (Hanlin 23’ (pen), Underwood 83’)

DENVER – The [5/7] University of Denver men’s soccer team ran its regular season unbeaten stretch that dates back to Halloween, 2014, to 31 matches with a 2-0 win over Western Illinois on Saturday night at CIBER Field at the University of Denver Soccer Stadium.

In the victory, Denver (12-0-2, 4-0-0 Summit) kept its eighth cleansheet in its last nine matches, shut its opponent out for the ninth time overall this season and didn’t allow a goal for the 43^rd match since head coach Jamie Franks joined the Denver staff as an assistant in 2012.

“Overall, I thought it was a good performance from our group,” Franks said. “It definitely wasn’t our best. We made some mistakes both technically and in our positional play tonight, but overall it was a solid performance. To only give up four shots and win the game 2-0 is a testament to the guys’ effort out there. For us, you can’t always play your best, but we are excited to get this win and now shift our focus to another big game on Wednesday.”

In the 23^rd minute, referee Landis Wiley pointed to the spot, whistling Maclean Johnson for a foul on junior defensive midfielder Graham Smith (Highlands Ranch, Colo.). Redshirt-senior Karsten Hanlin (Centennial, Colo.) converted his second spot kick of the season and his third goal overall in 2016 to give the Pioneers the first half advantage. Hanlin is a perfect three-of-three from the spot in his career, and now has 12 career goals.

Junior Alex Underwood (Winnetka, Ill.) doubled the Pioneers advantage in the 83^rd minute with a headed effort on a 30 yard cross from senior captain Sam Hamilton (Evergreen, Colo.). The goal is the seventh of Underwood’s career, including his fourth this season. The helper is Hamilton’s 11^th, and his team-high seventh of the 2016 campaign.

Denver outshot Western Illinois (6-6-1, 2-1-0 Summit) 12-4 in the match, and took the only four corner kicks on Saturday night.