DU Pioneers advance in NCAA men’s soccer tournament with shutout win over UC Irvine

From passive to pouncing the Pioneers are marching on The University of Denver men s soccer company opened its NCAA Tournament run with a - first-round win over UC Irvine on Thursday afternoon at University of Denver Soccer Stadium And the Pios have a true freshman to thank for it When outside back Kai Carlson stepped onto DU s campus for the first time this fall he leaned on defensive tendencies he developed at the Portland Timbers academy But at his position in DU head coach Jamie Franks system he had to adjust The Pioneers thrive with attacking wingbacks with speed precision and a willingness to attack Carlson rode the bench for half the season while he built up that part of his event Forward Ian Welch became a close friend and role model over that time Carlson declared and specific of his attacking habits have been passed down After a much-too-passive first half Carlson subbed on in the th minute and wasted no time changing the story Receiving a ball from a center back he saw space and attacked it forcing a defender to make a decision The impact was a wide-open Bryce Willoughby as a target on the byline Carlson detected the winger who then provided facility to Kyle McGowan for the opening goal in the st minute I ve learned a lot about myself since being here Carlson disclosed I ve learned that if I m confident in myself I can make things happen going into the attack and I can also get back and defend and help us keep a clean sheet Building that trust has really helped me a lot to get to where I m at It was laborious for Franks who often takes a traditional approach of redshirting freshmen to keep Carlson off the field especially at a position that isn t all that deep He s got stalwarts like senior Dylan Akau and Will King but Carlson has proven he can make an impact off the bench Both career assists for the freshman have come in the postseason one against UC Irvine on Thursday and one in the Summit League semifinal against Oral Roberts He s a gamer you know We loved Kai as a recruit because of his instincts He plays off his instincts he trusts himself he really believes in us and in his event Franks declared He s just come such a long way this fall It s so hard for incoming guys to come and play college soccer but he s just done a great job learning and growing We knew he was ready for this moment University of Denver midfielder Luke Schultz scores a goal against UC Irvine goalkeeper Joe O'Shaughnessy during their first-round NCAA Tournament match at University of Denver Soccer Stadium in Denver on Thursday November DU won - Photo by Hyoung Chang The Denver Post The beneficiary of Carlson s impulse to attack was McGowan whose first shot rebounded straight back to him allowing him to blast it into the roof of the net for the opening goal It was his th of the season making him the seventh player in initiative history to reach double figures in a single season Seven of those goals have come since Oct Like in the Summit League final on Sunday once the first goal came it didn t take long for another Keegan Kelly exposed a streaking Luke Schultz at the penalty spot who took an extra touch toward the right post before blistering the roof of the net himself from a tight angle in the th minute Related Articles DU Pioneers men s soccer draws UC Irvine for NCAA Tournament opener DU Pioneers win Summit League men s soccer title for final time as conference member Keegan Kelly nets hat trick for DU Pioneers in Summit League semifinal win over Oral Roberts Renck DU to West Coast Conference is ideal fit represents huge win for Pioneers University of Denver moving to West Coast Conference in A marvelous kick save by Isaac Nehme in the th minute took the sting out of the Anteaters attack and slammed the door shut on a comeback effort Now both Carlson and McGowan both from Oregon and the Timbers academy can look forward to going home for the weekend The Pioneers will take on the eighth-seeded Portland Pilots a familiar face from earlier this season Back in September the Pioneers were surprised by then-fourth-ranked Portland which jumped out to a - lead within minutes DU scored twice in the final minutes but ran out of time to find an equalizer Carlson didn t play in that match as he had yet to battle his way onto the pitch If anything the memory of that tournament from a bench point of view pumps him up even more I was super excited when the bracket was published Portland is a great squad and it s tough to go back there and play especially with the atmosphere they have Carlson disclosed But I know that with the club we have the players we have and the heart that we show we re just a different squad than in September I know we can go there and keep this run going Want more sports news Sign up for the Sports Omelette to get all our analysis on Denver s teams