The University of Denver women’s soccer team lost to Middle Tennessee in a shootout for the Sun Belt Conference championship Saturday afternoon in Bowling Green, Ky.
After 110 minutes of play, the nationally ranked No. 15 Pioneers (19-2-1, 11-0-0 Sun Belt) earned a scoreless tie, but the Blue Raiders (13-8-2, 9-2) won the tournament with a 3-2 edge in penalty kicks during the shootout.
“I wasn’t disappointed with how we played at all,” DU coach Jeff Hooker said. “We had lots of chances to put the game away in the second half. It would have been nice not to go to penalty kicks because anything can happen. Middle Tennessee was better at penalty kicks than we were.”
The Pioneers now must hope for an at-large bid in order to make their fifth straight NCAA Tournament. The selection show will air live on ESPNU on Monday at 2:30 p.m.
McNiff, Grizzlies take RMAC titles.
Adams State College senior Ryan McNiff won the individual title while the nation’s top-ranked Grizzly men’s cross country team claimed their sixth consecutive and 33rd overall Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference team title, Saturday at the Gene Torres Golf Course in Las Vegas, N.M.
The top-ranked Grizzly women, running without RMAC preseason runner of the year Alicia Nelson because of injury, finished second behind No. 6 Western State as they saw their run of eight straight conference team titles end. Mesa State’s Alexis Skarda won the women’s individual title, the first time in 25 years that a non-Adams State or Western State participant has accomplished the feat.
