DU Alum Joe Willis Saves Season For DC United

(above) 11 minute highight video

DC United eliminated the New York Red Bulls 1-0 in the quarterfinals of the MLS playoffs on Thursday night. But it was the heroics of a recent University of Denver graduate that turned the tide of the game and enabled DC United to steal a famous victory on the road.

DC United starting goaltender Bill Hamid was given a red card midway through the second half. Hamid was ejected for taking down New York's Kenny Cooper at the edge of the penalty area. Moments later his replacement, University of Denver alum Joe Willis, stopped Cooper’s penalty kick after the New York striker’s successful attempt was nullified by a teammate’s encroachment violation.

Cooper had been 10 for 10 on penalty kicks this season.

Willis, a second-year pro who made 10 regular season starts this year, entered in the 70th minute under most difficult circumstances: to face a penalty kick. Cooper converted, but the referee nullified it because Thierry Henry had entered the area before the shot.

On Cooper’s second attempt, Willis guessed correctly, sliding to his left to block the low shot. “You don’t have a lot of time to think when something like that happens,” said Willis, who will start Sunday in Houston for the suspended Hamid. “I was just moving as fast as I could to get out there.”

DC Rookie Nick DeLeon scored in the 88th minute to secure the 1-0 victory and passage to MLS’s Eastern Conference finals.

DU Alum Joe Willis Starting For DC United

(above)  Joe Willis has been the starting goalkeeper for DU United the last few weeks

From:  Washington Post
by Paul Tenorio

More than four years had passed since D.C. United assistant coach Chad Ashton recruited a tall, gangly goalkeeper out of St. Louis to play for the University of Denver.

Ashton kept tabs on his former program after joining United’s staff, and especially on that lanky netminder. Joe Willis had grown into a 6-foot-5, 190-pound force in goal, earning all-conference honors three consecutive years. So during meetings in the fall of 2010, when United’s staff met to discuss potential college prospects, Ashton said he might have a steal [read entire article].

News & Notes From Around PioNation

Mike Chambers Blog reported last week that DU will once again host a Pro Camp, Aug. 22-26 at Magness Arena & Joy Burns Arena. DU’s assistant coaches run drills for the professional hockey players. Afterwards the coaches leave and current Pioneers join the pros for a non-contact, no-referee scrimmage. The camp is open to the public and free.

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Former Pioneer Brock Trotter's career has had its share of twists and turns, but he now has a shot to make the Montreal Canadiens NHL roster.  SB Nation has a pretty interesting article about where things stand for Trotter.

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DU Alum Bryan Vines begins his second season as an assistant coach at RPI under former Pioneer assistant Seth Appert.  The RPI Website has Bryan's bio.

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Alum Nate Rohnert, who played for the University of Denver men's basketball team from 2006-10, will play for Denain ASC Voltaire in France this season.

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DU soccer alum and goaltender for D.C. United, Joe Willis, was named Rookie of the Week by Soccer by Ives Blog.

DU Alum Records MLS Shutout In Pro Debut

(above) DU Alum Joe Willis makes a save On Saturday night for DC United

Video Highlights

From: MLS Soccer.com

by Travis Clark

DU Alum and soccer goalkeeper Joe Willis (6'5 189 lbs.) found out Friday he was about to make his pro debut, and then went ahead and put together a performance to remember when he got his chance.

The rookie of out of the University of Denver looked more like an established vet than a newcomer on Saturday, making a couple of game-changing saves to set the table for a 4-0 rout of the Vancouver Whitecaps at RFK Stadium.

“I can’t speak enough about Joe Willis tonight,” said midfielder Chris Pontius, who scored two goals in the win. “He made a huge save in the first half and even in the second. If he doesn’t make those saves, I think the game changes.”

With No. 1 goalie Bill Hamid out because of a red card suspension picked up against Toronto last week, Willis and Steve Cronin were told at the beginning of the week that they would duke it out for the starting role.

And the 23-year-old Willis seized the opportunity, battling past the established MLS veteran to earn the start before he came up huge in his first pro game.

Willis’s first save came in the 40th minute, the score tied at 0-0. Whitecaps forward Camilo curved a free kick from around 30 yards out that beat the wall but couldn’t fool Willis, who

shuffled his feet and lunged, getting a hand on the ball and sending it off the crossbar.

The rebound set off a melee in front of goal, but Willis was quick to the ball, lunging to grab it and snuff out the threat after a favorable deflection helped keep the visitors from scoring.

“I thought he played fantastic,” DC goalkeepers coach Pat Onstad said. “He had a great game.”

The second big moment came after United took a 2-0 lead, with goals on either side of the half time break. Vancouver left back Jonathan Leathers got free on the flank, and sent in a teasing cross to Eric Hassli. The big Frenchman volleyed a shot that Willis saved, this time with with his feet.

“I actually thought that the one that really kind of sealed their fate was at 2-0, when he comes across and blocks it,” Onstad said. “At 2-1 it’s a new game and they’re back into it.”

After the game, Willis clearly enjoyed the moment, earning a pie in the face from his teammates, as well as numerous congratulations for his efforts. However, he’s not going to rest of the accomplishment for too long.

“It’s exciting. But at the same time, the season’s not over yet,” he said. “We still have a lot of work to do. I’ll enjoy it for now, but come Monday it’s back to work.”