Keegan Kelly nets hat trick for DU Pioneers in Summit League semifinal win over Oral Roberts
A re-focused Keegan Kelly is built for November. The University of Denver sophomore forward scored a perfect hat trick (right foot, left foot, header) in Sunday’s Summit League semifinal against Oral Roberts on the way to a 4-1 win for the Pioneers. The 21-year-old, who represented New Zealand in last month’s FIFA U-20 World Cup, has a knack for showing up when it counts. It took 14 games to net his first goal of the 2025 season for DU — the game-tying goal against St. Thomas last Wednesday to clinch a share of the Summit League regular-season title. Then came a hat trick four days later. Last year, he scored in the opening two games, but didn’t appear on the scoresheet until the final game of the regular season. Including that game, he went on a five-game tear of recording at least one goal contribution — in the Summit League championship game against UMKC, then in all of the Pioneers’ NCAA Tournament games except for their Final Four loss to Vermont. Kelly’s motivation: Getting “another couple of days with the boys.” “Every game we win from now on is another three, four, seven days, whatever it is, that we can train together and go and compete,” Kelly said. “I’m just trying to do what I can to give these seniors the sendoff they deserve by going all the way.” “All the way,” meaning a second-straight trip to the College Cup, where Denver lost in the semifinals to the eventual champion a year ago. With Sunday’s win, an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament is in play despite an overall record of 10-7-2. A handful of those losses were one-goal defeats against top-15 opponents. Their lone ranked win was against No. 14 Georgetown. The Pioneers want the Summit League trophy that eluded them during last year’s run. Belief is a big piece of the puzzle, according to DU coach Jamie Franks. That much was on display against the Golden Eagles. DU was dominant, particularly in a first half in which they held 72% of the possession, but Oral Roberts scored first against the run of play in the 37th minute. On a rare counterattack, Jake Smith took down a Golden Eagles attacker in the box, which wasn’t called a foul at first but was reversed after a long VAR review. DU keeper Isaac Nehme dove the right way, but Jeff Mesidor converted from the spot. The Pioneers kept pushing and probing at Oral Roberts’ defense and broke it down on multiple occasions, but they couldn’t quite put the finishing touches on any moves. In the 67th minute, Bryce Willoughby tapped in a goal at the back post on DU’s 13th corner of the game. With extra coverage on Grant Lund, who scored on a corner against ORU last weekend, Willoughby was unmarked on the goal. Just 91 seconds later, the Kelly show began. To take the lead, Jake Smith pinged a perfect ball to Kelly streaking toward the top of the box, who headed it home. He broke away for his right-footed finish in the 87th minute, then stalling with the ball in the corner turned opportunistically into his left-footed goal in the 89th minute. Franks said it helped to see Kelly play in a different system with New Zealand to pick out flaws and opportunities that could be applied to his role with DU. The biggest takeaway for an eager forward: discipline. “I think he’s narrowed his focus. … He’s trying to make every play and sometimes when you’re trying to make every play, it pulls you out of position because you’re so committed to the first run,” Franks said. “He’s been understanding that his first movement is really setting up a second movement. Everything for him is always about his work ethic, it’s about his grit, it’s about his intensity. “We just felt like today, really the past three, four weeks since he’s been back (from the World Cup) he’s just been putting himself in really good spots. So nobody is shocked to see him score three today.” That’s been a theme as of late for the Pioneers, who are getting hot at the right time. They’re 3-0-1 in their last four games and have only conceded twice. Though the first half of Sunday’s semi was a grind, four goals in the final 24 minutes provided a great swing of momentum. Related Articles Renck: DU to West Coast Conference is ideal fit, represents huge win for Pioneers University of Denver moving to West Coast Conference in 2026 Led by goalkeeper Isaac Nehme, DU Pioneers men’s soccer has lofty goals for 2025 Most of all, they look like they’re having fun. During warm-ups, while the Golden Eagles took their shooting and one-touch passing seriously, the Pioneers were laughing during keep-away games and chanting every time a shot was blocked in a defensive drill. Each Kelly tally was met with equal elation. Fun, entertaining soccer is part of the package for a team that’s going places. The Pioneers will play the winner of UMKC and Delaware on Saturday at 3 p.m. at DU Soccer Stadium for the Summit League title and an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. “We don’t really care who we play, it’s a final,” Kelly said. The Roos of UMKC beat DU in the same match last year. “We don’t play in championships, we win them. So don’t care, if it’s KC or Delaware, we’re gonna win. … We just know that they have to come here and play us for 90 minutes.” Want more sports news? Sign up for the Sports Omelette to get all our analysis on Denver’s teams.
