A mantra for all of Sam Bassett’s time at the University of Denver: The Pioneers do not play in finals, they win them.
The DU men’s soccer program has to get there first, of course, but not a single ounce of disbelief snuck onto the plane as the Pioneers headed to Cary, N.C.
Before walking off the training pitch on Wednesday for the last time this season, DU coach Jamie Franks opened the floor to seniors to speak to the team before heading off to the Raleigh suburb for Friday’s NCAA College Cup semifinal against Vermont — the program’s first appearance in the Final Four since 2016.
After a pause, defender AJ Francois obliged, dropped a few curse words and then a statement of purpose: “There’s not a team in this Final Four that has worked harder than us.”
Every head in the huddle nodded in agreement.
Moments prior, the Pioneers finished a short-field drill which included lots of goals and lots of celebration, some noogies here and there afterward, and a slight smile on almost every face that wasn’t bursting out laughing.
“I think it’s happy and sad,” Bassett told The Denver Post Wednesday of his last time training on that pitch. “Definitely happy that we’re getting to leave today to go to the College Cup. And we know we exhausted every single minute we had on this field. But it’s sad that it’s my last time in four years playing on it.”
Walking back to the locker room, someone carried a speaker blasting house music past the iconic bell tower on DU’s campus.
Perhaps not an ounce of nervousness made it on the plane, either.
“Pressure is a privilege. This is just an opportunity to showcase who we are and all the hard work we’ve been doing,” Franks told The Post. “The real reason why we’ve had so much success is because of these processes and the habits we build every single day. And the outcome of that is being in a Final Four. …
“The biggest difference between 2016 and this season is the belief that we are going to win the championship. We take one game at a time, but the belief that we’ve been everywhere over the past five years, we’ve played at every venue, against every conference and teams in all different states. There’s a real belief that we can win because we’ve put ourselves up to the test.”
This time around, the final exam might look a bit different than expected. Usually at this point in the tournament, you’ll see the highest seeds facing off — the 6th-seeded Pioneers played No. 2 Wake Forest at this stage in 2016 — but the 2024 tournament has been the year of the giant killers.
Unseeded UMass, which Denver thrashed 3-0 in the quarterfinal, beat the No. 6 and No. 11 seeds just to get there. Then Vermont stunned No. 2 Pittsburgh on the road in its quarterfinal, 2-0, thanks to a pair of uncharacteristic Panthers mistakes in the back that the Catamounts capitalized on.
According to Franks, much like his own team, Vermont is “really disciplined, good in transition and good on set pieces.” Against Pitt, the Catamounts exploited errors in possession with a solid press. The Pioneers, who thrive in possession but can bury opponents in a multitude of ways, must be ready to break it and run the field.
The tournament run from Vermont, which also included a 2-1 win over No. 7 Hofstra in the second round, demands respect from the Pioneers heading into the matchup. Besides, nothing is a given at this point in the NCAA Tournament, not even against an unseeded team in the Final Four.
“Any team that’s still playing at this time has done an extremely good job and for us, it’s about playing with pressure, enjoying the process and understanding that there’s 210 teams out there and only four left right now,” Franks said. “We love this opportunity to continue to do the things we can to put us in the best position to win Friday.”
DU (15-3-4) vs. Vermont (15-2-5)
When/where: 3:06 p.m. MST Friday, WakeMed Soccer Park, Cary, N.C.
TV: ESPNU
About Vermont: Cinderella’s shoe fits perfectly on this Vermont team. If not for a wild double-overtime win in the America East semifinals on the way to a conference title, the Catamounts may not be in the NCAA Tournament at all. But they’ve made the best of the chance with a 2-1 win over No. 7 Hofstra and a shocking 2-0 upset of No. 2 Pittsburgh. Before the tourney, Vermont lost its only match against a ranked team, 3-1 (No. 12 Western Michigan). UMass is the only common opponent the two teams played this year — Denver won, 3-0, while Vermont settled for a 2-all draw.
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