TITLE ASPIRATIONS
No. 3 DU men have high goals
Coming off its first NCAA Final Four appearance and a sparkling 20-1-3 record, the University of Denver men’s soccer team enters the 2017 season seeking more.
In this case, more can only feature advancement to the Dec. 10 national championship game in Philadelphia.
The Pioneers, who are 35-2-6 in Jamie Franks’ two years as their coach, believe they will continue to be among the country’s top teams in a field of 203 Division I programs. Ranked No. 3 nationally, the Pioneers open Friday at home against Florida Gulf Coast.
“Expectations all the way through is to win a national championship,” said senior midfielder Graham Smith, a co-captain from Highlands Ranch. “That was our goal last year. We learned a lot from the College Cup experience, but ultimately we came up short. We gained a lot of experience from that and are looking to put that to good use this year.”
DU fell 2-1 in extra time to Wake Forest in last year’s College Cup national semifinals. Graham assisted on the tying goal in that game and is among six returning starters and 19 lettermen.
“Growing up, I always wanted to go to DU. My dad went here,” said Graham, who transferred to DU from Oregon State before last season. “I was a ball boy at games and had a lot of family ties to the program. This was always my first choice. So going into my senior year and having all this stuff coming to fruition, it’s awesome.”
Franks, 30, was the country’s youngest coach in 2015 and was named the 2016 national coach of the year.
His secret? “Recruiting high-character kids, holding them accountable, increasing demand and developing people — leaders,” Franks said. “Every year, people doubt us, say we’re not going to be as talented as the year before, and then we have guys step up.”
Franks promotes a style of play which he dubs “fighting football.” It’s aggressive.
“That’s just to play every play, with the mentality of resiliency,” he said. “It will be a process throughout the year to find our fighting football, but at the end of the day, this team’s got a lot of special attacking players that all they need is one moment, a yard of space, and they can make something special happen.”
Graham is among 13 Colorado-groomed players for the Pioneers. He played at Mountain Vista High School. Franks said recruiting in-state players is vital to his program.
“We wear a city across our chest, so to have guys who take a lot of pride in the Denver brand already, it means everything to them,” Franks said. “A lot of these guys were under-recruited kids or kids that kind of got overlooked, so for us, we play with a chip on our shoulders.”