First-year forward Lexi Huber scored the lone goal for St. Thomas with 23 minutes remaining in a 2-1 loss to Summit League opponent University of Denver Friday at South Field.
The match marked the first home game since Sept. 7 for the Tommies (2-8-1, 0-3 Summit) and their first conference home game of the season.
“We just stuck in with the number one team right there,” Huber said. “Positivity and energy on and off the field brought us closer, and we never gave up the whole game.”
Huber’s goal marked her team-leading fourth goal of the season, coming just 19 seconds after the Pioneers’ (7-5, 2-0 Summit) second goal of the match. Junior forward Sydney Sharp scored her goal on an assist from sophomore forward Taylor Wells.
The Pioneers first goal came in the 41st minute by junior midfielder Kaitlyn Glover on an assist from first-year forward Riley Baker.
Sophomore goalkeeper Olivia Graupmann said that she was ready to play at home after having five straight road games over the past 31 days.
“We were excited to finally be at home again,” Graupmann said. “Even though we might not have come out with the score we wanted, we worked so hard and I’m super proud of how we played.”
Graupmann had seven saves in the match and defended against nine corner kicks. The Tommies’ defense held the Pioneers to only 10 shots on goal in the contest.
The Tommies may have only had five shots on goal, but coach Sheila McGill was happy with her team’s effort against a high ranked opponent.
“They’re the number one team so we wanted to come out and battle, we wanted to make sure that we were organized defensively and able to stay consistent,” McGill said. “We did that and that’s exactly what we were looking for.”
The game marked the first home loss of the season for St. Thomas, who had only played two home games tying Northern Iowa 0-0 on Aug. 24 and shutting out Wyoming 3-0 on Sept. 7.
The Tommies take on University of Nebraska Omaha in a home matchup Sunday, Oct. 10 at 1 p.m. at South Field.
“We showed that no matter who the team is, we’ll put up a fight,” Huber said.
Cam Kauffman can be reached at kauf8536@stthomas.edu.