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The Air Force Academy game usually ends the soccerseason for the University of Denver, not because it isthe last game on the schedule, but because D.U. usuallyloses to the Academy. In the past, the pattern hasbasically been one of both teams going through amediocre schedule of games in the Rocky MountainIntercollegiate Soccer League, and then meeting eachother towards the end of the season to determine thewinner of the league championship and the post-seasontournament berth. For the past four years the Pioneershave been meeting the Academy and losing.Things were different this year, though. At the headof the team was a new coach, Peder Pytte, quiet andmild-mannered, almost completely different fromformer soccer mentor Willy Schaeffler. And Pytte wascoaching one of the best teams ever seen on the Hilltop.Led by freshman goalie Mike Winter, the D.U.kickers knocked off opponents handily. Unheard ofscores such as 11-1, 20-0, and 9-0 were found in theD.U. win column.As the season progressed the Pioneers continued to win,defeating Metro State, Rockmont College, Wyoming,Colorado, and nationally ranked Cleveland State. Theydropped their first of the season to Southern Florida onOctober 17, by a 2-1 margin. They moved back on thewinning track immediately, however, beating ColoradoCollege, Regis, and Colorado Mines in short order.Then one sunny afternoon near Colorado Springs, arebound shot trickled past All-American and Olympichopeful goalie Gene Kraay, and D.U. beat Air Force in a1-0 shutout. Three days later, Denver whipped ColoradoState and sewed up their first league championship andtournament bid in quite some time.No one expected D.U. to progress as far as they did inthe national tournament because the teams they playedon the West Coast are traditionally hard to beat.Constantine Gassios reversed this trend, making quickwork of the San Jose Spartans by scoring both goals ina 2-1 rout of the nationally ranked team. All good thingsmust come to an end, however, and UCLA ended D.U .'swinning streak with a 3-1 defeat. Denver had to becontent with a second place in the NCAA Western RegionalPlay-offs and a new school record for the mostwins in one season.While the 1971 soccer team produced its share of surprises,the greatest honors came after the close of theseason. Pedder Pytte was named coach of the year inthe league, and several D.U. players were named to theRMISL first team: outside right Charlie Starbuck; halfbackGermy Rivera; inside left Constantine Gassios;and John Manilla. In addition, Mike Winter made allleague goalie with an average of 0.8 goals per game, andAlvard DelGadillo was named to the second RMISL team.162