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DU wins Invitational over Drake
Sophomore forward Kalie Vaughn scored two goals and added an assist to help lead the University of Denver women’s soccer team to a 4-1 victory over Drake at CIBER Field on Monday afternoon, as well as the 2010 Denver Invitational title.
“We beat our rivals in CU on Saturday, so we weren’t sure how the team would react today, considering how young we are,” head coach Jeff Hooker said. “Getting the goal in the first minute showed the intensity. We have a couple of goals: not losing at home and putting away opponents, and I think we did a great job of that today.”
The Pioneers struck quickly, as freshman forward Kristen Hamilton dribbled the ball up the left side and centered to Vaughn, who lofted a shot over Drake goalkeeper Kalena Litch, just 24 seconds into the game.
Vaughn got her second goal of the game in the 29th minute, sneaking a shot just inside the left post, off an assist from freshman forward Cassidy Larson.
Sophomore midfielder Kaitlin Bast buried a shot in the 52nd minute from the far left side of the box to just inside the far post. Freshman midfielder Nicholette DiGiacomo recorded the assist.
In the 57th minute, Bast recorded her second goal of the half. Senior defender Megan Flannery dribbled up the right side and crossed the ball from near the corner. Vaughn trapped it and dropped a pass back to Bast, who fired a shot past the keeper.
Vaughn, who also scored a goal against Colorado on Saturday, received Denver’s MVP honor for the tournament, while sophomore goalkeeper Lara Campbell, Hamilton, DiGiacomo and Bast made the Denver Invitational All-Tournament Team.
The Pioneers next travel to Spokane, Washington, for the Gonzaga University Invitational. Denver will take on Washington State on Friday and Gonzaga on Sunday. Colorado will be the fourth team in the tournament, marking the second of three tournaments that DU and CU both will play.
Rebels Triumph: Earlier Monday, the CU women’s soccer team dropped its second game of the DU Invitational, falling to UNLV 4-2 in an eventful match Monday morning at CIBER Field on the DU campus.
The Buffaloes fall to 2-2 on the season while UNLV improves to 4-1.
Colorado took the lead early at just 6:17 into the first half. Kym Lowry broke away from the defense and sprinted down the right sideline. She passed the ball to Kassidy Fitzpatrick at center field just outside the goal box. Fitzpatrick delivered the ball to Alex Dohm who stood between her and UNLV goalie Kylie Wassell. Dohm fired the ball from about five yards out into the back of the net to put the Buffs up 1-0.
Dohm was named CU’s Team MVP for the DU Invitational — one was awarded for all four teams — while Haley Hughes and Kate Russell were named to the All-Tournament Team.
UNLV retaliated and tied the game 1-1 in the 18th minute when Amanda Forrester sent the ball to Collete Jepson who was just outside of the goal box. CU goalkeeper Annie Brunner was playing further out than usual, and as she tried to stop the ball, it blazed past her and into the open net.
At the 30-minute mark, UNLV took the lead with a goal that surprised many people watching. Macy Jo Harrison maneuvered around the Colorado defense at midfield and took a fierce shot from over 25-yards out. The ball sailed towards the goal and just grazed the top of the goal, inches above Brunner’s head, to put the Rebels up 2-1 for the remainder of the half. It was the first time this season the Buffs have trailed at the half.
“They had three shots in the first half, and two goals,” said head coach Bill Hempen. “So at halftime I said ‘Well, what did we learn from that? Don’t let them shoot.’”
The Rebels increased their lead to 3-1 off a corner kick in the 68th minute. The ball volleyed between UNLV players until Katherine Orellana got ahold of it. She passed it to Jepson who tapped it in just past Brunner in the goal.
Anglin LaChere scored the fourth and final goal of the game for UNLV off a penalty kick with just over 10 minutes to play.
CU answered with a penalty kick with two minutes left on the clock. Taryn Vitacca blasted the ball past Wassell, providing the final margin.
“At the end of the day, I probably let my emotions get hold of me because we played a different way than we normally played,” Hempen said. “I wanted to try and press them, and we didn’t do very well at it.”
“I think we need to work on getting back that fluidity and cohesiveness we had before, and we kind of lacked that this game,” said Anne Stuller. “We are going to work really hard and get that back so when we go to Washington this won’t happen again.”
The Buffaloes travel to Spokane, Washington, next weekend to compete in the Gonzaga University Tournament. CU will take on the host Bulldogs on Friday at 8 p.m. They will take on Washington State University in their last game on Sunday at noon.
Tournament Honors: Below are the team MVPs and the all-tournament selections from the invitational.
Team Tournament MVPs
Denver – Kalie Vaughn
Drake – Megan Fisher
Colorado – Alex Dohm
UNLV – Colette Jepson
All-Tournament Team
Lara Campbell – Denver
Kristen Hamilton – Denver
Kaitlin Bast – Denver
Nicholette DiGiacomo – Denver
Ali Walsh – Drake
Kalena Litch – Drake
Brittany Schuling – Drake
Ashleig Shoughro – UNLV
Mary Jo Harrison – UNLV
Kate Russell – Colorado
Hayley Hughes – Colorado
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