Upset bid falls short on goal in 94th minute
James Ripple | Sports writer |Â @RippleJames
Denver, CO — In an effort to knock off the 15th-ranked Denver Pioneers, the Utah Valley Wolverines fell a little short. Â Alex Underwood scored the golden goal in the fourth minute of overtime to give the Pioneers a 2-1 victory on Sunday night at CIBER Field.
The Wolverines fell to 6-2 on the season and Denver improved to 6-0-1 on the season and improved their home winning streak to 22 games. Â It was also the first loss for the Wolverines away from Clyde Field this season and their first loss in OT in 2015.
Denver midfielder Karsten Hanlin put the Pioneers on the board first when he scored from 20 yards out in the 25th minute.
The Wolverines struck back in the second half. Â Freshman Aaron Meyer put one in the back of the net off an assist from Karson Payton in the 70th minute to tie the game at one.
In overtime, it didn’t take long for Underwood to score the golden goal as he took a cross from Chandler Crosswait and slid it into the back corner of the net to seal the win. Tosh Samkange also assisted him.
UVU goalkeeper Collin Partee recorded four saves on the night in goal including a big one right before the end of regulation. Â UVU also collected a team save on the night.
The Pioneers outshot the Wolverines 12-11 and had more shots on goal by a 7-3 advantage.
Next up for the Wolverines will be three straight home games with the first on September 24. Â They will face Cal State Fullerton in their homecoming match at 7 p.m. MT at Clyde Field. Â They will have a week off before getting back onto the pitch where they start conference play on October 2 against Air Force with kickoff set for 7 p.m. MT. Â They will face UMKC on October 4, kickoff at 1 p.m. MT.
