SPOKANE, Wash. – The Gonzaga men's soccer team begins the fall season this Thursday at Denver. The match is slated for 6 p.m.

Overall, GU is 4-1 against the Pioneers with the series dating back to 2001. The two teams just played last year at Luger Field, when the Zags won 1-0 at Luger Field as Denver was receiving votes in the poll and eventually went on to win its conference. 

This season marks head coach Aaron Lewis' second season at the helm. Previously, Lewis was the GU assistant coach starting in 2019 and came to Gonzaga after six seasons as the men's soccer head coach at Corban University.

During his first year, the men's soccer team was one of the most improved teams in the country, finishing the season at 7-10 and 2-5 in West Coast Conference play. This was the first season that the Zags won seven games in a season since 2016. 

In the 2021 season, the Bulldogs went on a four-game winning streak, that included three shutouts and a come-from-behind 3-2 win over California Baptist. Another impressive win for GU was a 1-0 victory against the University of Denver, a team that was receiving votes in the poll and eventually went on to win its conference. In WCC play, Gonzaga won its first opening game against San Diego on the road, marking the first conference opening win for the Bulldogs since 2015.  

Gonzaga's junior Demitrius Kigeya was also recently named preseason All-West Coast Conference.

Kigeya had a team-high 13 points last season. In 16 games, he scored five goals and was credited with three assists. He took a team-best 26 shots, with 15 on goal. The senior was tabbed second team All-Conference following the season, and was Second Team All-WCC in 2019 and 2020. During his first year at GU he was also named to the WCC All-Freshman team.

Live video and stats of the game versus Denver will be available on GoZags.com.