Online Release | Denver 3-0 IPFW (Ivins 11’, Loomis 24’, Garzelloni 50’)

DENVER  - The University of Denver women’s soccer team climbed to the top of the Summit League table with a 3-0  victory over IPFW on Sunday afternoon at CIBER Field at the University of Denver Soccer Stadium. With the win, Denver also guaranteed itself no worse than a three seed in November’s Summit League Tournament at CIBER Field.

Junior Taylor Ivins (West Haven, Utah), freshman Jocelyn Loomis (Sandy, Utah) and redshirt-sophomore Francesca Garzelloni (Parker, Colo.) scored for the Pioneers on Sunday, their third, fourth and third goals of the season, respectively.

“We talked about our stretch of shutouts the other night at training, and how much we value not coming in and sizing up an opponent, but that we just worry about ourselves,” head coach Jeff Hooker said. “We had a great start, got an early goal and we got into the locker room again without giving up a goal. Getting that second goal in the first half took a lot of the pressure off of us, and put them on their heels a little bit. For us at halftime, we wanted to not give up a goal, but we knew we really wanted that third goal, that third goal allows you to play more freely. That allowed us to try a few different combinations, and get some more people minutes today.”

A trio of Utah natives linked up to lead to the Denver breakthrough in the 11^th as Ivins netted her third goal of the season off assists from a pair of freshmen, Loomis and Makenzie Bothner (Park City, Utah). Bothner got the ball on the left flank, cut it back across to Loomis at the top of the box, and Loomis found Ivins down the right. Ivins was just off the endline when she uncorked her strike into the side netting inside the left post.

Loomis doubled the Pioneer advantage in the 24th minute, making a near post run to finish a cross from senior right back Shelby Wesley (Aurora, Colo.). Wesley and Garzelloni played a quick 1-2 with eachother to free Wesley up on the right flank.

Garzelloni made it 3-0 on the other side of halftime as Bothner earned her second assist of the match, beating her defender down the left before playing the cross just outside the six-yard box for Garzelloni’s 50th minute finish.

Junior Tina Vargas (Issaquah, Wash.) earned her fourth-consecutive shutout on Sunday, giving Denver a streak of 438 minutes without allowing a goal.

“We’ve done a great job from where we were at 1-2 to put ourselves in a position to win the league,” Hooker said. “That’s where we want to be.”

The Pioneers will go to South Dakota State for both squads' regular season finale on Oct. 31 at 5 p.m. MT. Denver honored its senior class after Sunday afternoon’s match, and will hold their annual banquet tonight in the Daniel L. Ritchie Center.

Don't miss out on Pioneer soccer action this fall. 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 Ritchie Center box office or through DenverPioneers.com by clicking here. 

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