CARY, N.C. – For the second time in program history, No. 3 seed Denver is a final four seed in the NCAA Men’s Soccer Tournament. The Pioneers also played in the 2016 College Cup, their third season as a member of the Summit League.

Denver has yet to concede a goal in three games in the NCAA Tournament, and of the teams that advanced past the first round, the Pioneers are the only ones who can claim that distinction.

The Pioneers play Vermont in the first semifinal on Friday in Cary, N.C. The game will be televised on ESPNU and streamed on ESPN+ at 5:00 p.m. ET.

NCAA TOURNAMENT
Thursday November 21st | First round
Kansas City 2, Saint Louis 0

Sunday, November 24th | Second round
No. 3 Denver* 3, Gardner-Webb 0
Kansas City 2, No. 15 Missouri State 1

Saturday November 30th | Third round
No. 3 Denver* 1, No. 14 Indiana 0

Sunday, December 1st | Third round
No. 2 Pittsburgh 3*, Kansas City 2 (OT)

Saturday December 7th | Quarterfinals
#3 Denver 3*, Massachusetts 0

Friday December 13th | College Cup semifinals | local time
S1: Vermont vs. No. 3 Denver* | ESPNU/ESPN+ | 5:00 p.m. ET
S2: No. 13 Marshall* vs. No. 1 Ohio State* | ESPNU/ESPN+ | 7:30 p.m. ET

Monday December 16th | College Cup Finals
CH: Winner S1 vs. Winner S2 | ESPNU/ESPN+ | 8pm ET

*National seeds

Team | All-time tournament record | Longest run
(3) Denver | 10-11-1 | College Cup (2016; 2024)
• The No. 3 national seeding is the highest in program history and the highest by a Summit League team in any sport
• The Pioneers have won an NCAA Tournament game in each of the last four seasons and will play in the semifinals for the second time in program history (2016 College Cup).
• This is the third time the Pioneers have been nationally seeded – 2016 (seed 6; lost in College Cup) and 2018 (seed 15; lost in second round).
• This is DU’s 10th appearance at the event as a member of the Summit League, and the program’s 10 wins are now two more than current and former members combined have achieved at the event.

Kansas City | 3-4 | Round of 16 (2024)
• Made fourth NCAA Tournament appearance (all as a member of the Summit League) and first since the 2003 season
• Earned second and third wins in NCAA postseason play with a first-round win at Saint Louis (2-0) and a second-round win at No. 15 Missouri State (2-1).
• The game against Saint Louis was a rematch of the second round of the 2001 NCAA Tournament, which the Billikens won 2-1

AROUND THE LEAGUE
• In 44 games in the NCAA Tournament, the Summit League posted five wins, tied for second with the Big Ten, which had six teams in the field, and behind only the ACC, whose seven teams combined for 10 wins.
• With Denver having 15 wins so far and Kansas City finishing its season with 14 wins, the ACC is the only other conference with two teams reaching that win threshold (Clemson (15), Pittsburgh (14) this season).
• Denver, the No. 3 national team, is the second Summit team to advance to the NCAA Men’s College Cup with the honor, joining the Pioneers’ 2016 squad.
• DU, a No. 6 national seed in its only previous trip, won a quarterfinal game against No. 3 national seed Clemson 1-0 and advanced to Houston, where it lost 2-1 to No. No. 2 national seed Wake Forest lost in double overtime in the semifinals.
• This is the first year in conference history that two Summit teams advanced to the third round of the NCAA men’s tournament. Kansas City won the first and second round games to advance to the round of 16, where the Roos lost 3-2 in overtime to No. 2 seed Pittsburgh last Sunday.
• This is only the third season in which multiple league teams have been represented in the NCAA Tournament field and the first in which the league has qualified two teams in two consecutive years.
• The Pioneers received an at-large bid in 2023 and tournament champion Omaha received the automatic bid last season.
• With the Roos’ 2-0 first-round win over Saint Louis, a Summit League team has now won a first-round game in five consecutive seasons. DU had a bye in the first round.

DENVER
• DU has yet to concede a goal in 540 minutes of play in the NCAA Tournament and is the only advancing squad among the 48 teams to make that claim.
• Junior goaltender Issac Nehme has posted three straight shutouts, bringing his season total to eight (T9 nationally) and career total to 29. That’s a DU program record and the second-most by a Summit League player.
• The Pioneers won their fourth straight NCAA Tournament game with a 3-0 second-round victory over Gardner-Webb. DU’s three goals came in the first half against the Runnin’ Bulldogs, tying the score in the 19th, 24th and 25th minutes.
• Summit League midfielder of the year Sam Bassett assisted on two of DU’s three goals by shutting out Gardner-Webb.
• Ben Smith opened the scoring against Gardner-Webb with his second goal of the season, while Keegan Kelly added his third and Trevor Wright scored his second.
• Kelly became the first Pioneer to score in back-to-back NCAA Tournament games when he scored the game-winning goal against IU in the ninth minute. Kelly’s right-footed shot was the only shot on goal for DU in a 1-0 win over the 14th-seeded Hoosiers.
• After assisting the first goal in DU’s 3-0 win over UMass in the quarterfinals, Bassett now has 13 assists this season and 26 in his career, tied for the second-most assists in Summit League history. His 13 helpers are currently the third-most nationally and the fifth-most by a Summit League player in a single season.
• The Pioneers will play Vermont in the national semifinals for the first time.
• Bassett ranks second among Summit players with 29 points. He ranks second at DU with eight goals and first among league players with 13 assists.
• The Pioneers captured the program’s 10th regular-season title with a 1-0 win at Oral Roberts on Nov. 2 and finished the Summit campaign with a 2-1 win at Omaha on Nov. 9 to finish 7- 1-0 (21 points).
• With 15 total wins and seven Summit League victories this season, DU head coach Jamie Franks now ranks second all-time on the Summit League record list in career wins (124) and league wins (51). Franks trails Western Illinois head coach Dr. Eric Johnson. Johnson accumulated 185 career wins and 77 Summit victories in 27 seasons in the league.

KANSAS CITY
• The Roos’ historic season ended with a 3-2 overtime loss to the second-seeded Panthers. KC finished the program with a season record of 14 wins, giving the Summit League along with DU two teams with more than 14 wins (1983; Eastern Illinois (16) and Green Bay (150, 1989)) for the third time in league history. . Cleveland State (14) and Missouri State (14)).
• Kansas City scored two goals in all three NCAA Tournament games and finished the season with 56, tied for the sixth-most goals by a Summit team in a single season in conference history. The Roos’ 60 assists are the second most.
• Guille Munoz scored the Roos’ winner in the 67th minute from a Le Bourdoulous corner in their first-round victory over Saint Louis. Munoz’s goal against the Billikens was the first of his career.
• Le Bourdoulous also set up KC’s winning goal in its 2-1 triumph over Missouri State, setting up a corner kick for Alex Kohoutek, who scored the winner in the 72nd minute. It was Kohoutek’s first tally of his DI career, bringing KC’s total number of different scorers this season to 18.
• Le Bourdoulous added two more assists in the loss to Pitt, setting a KC single-season record of 12 total and tying DU’s Bassett for the league lead and a share of third place nationally. The duo is part of a Group 15 Division I team with double-digit assists.
• The Roos scored eight goals in the postseason and five came from French corners, including both in a 2-1 win at Denver in the Summit League championship game.
• Munoz headed the equalizer against Pitt from a Le Bourdolous corner in the 74th minute. Le Bourdolous also assisted on Gabriele Gallccuio’s opening goal in the sixth minute.
• With two more road wins in the NCAA Tournament, Kansas City leads all Division I squads in that category and finishes the campaign with nine.
• The Roos beat the Bears twice in Springfield in 2024 and KC scored five of the 15 goals MSU conceded in a 12-4-2 season.
• KC’s win over Saint Louis in the opening round was the Roos’ first loss to the Billikens in 12 games all-time.
• The Roos won their fourth Summit League championship and first since 2008 with a win over top-seeded Denver on Nov. 16.
• Elie Kisoka, named Offensive Player and Newcomer of the Year, scored the Roos’ game-winning goal with 13 seconds left on a Le Bourdoulous corner.

#SUMMITMSOC