DENVER – The [7/9] University of Denver men's soccer team got a goal apiece from each of its front four to lead the Pioneers past Western Illinois 4-0 on Saturday night at the University of Denver Soccer Stadium.
"Our first goal is to win the Summit League regular season, and we're three points away from just that," head coach
Jamie Franks said. "We put ourselves in a good position, and have an important match against Oral Roberts in a few weeks time to accomplish that goal. Our energy and focus now gets turned to Saint Louis on Tuesday. I was happy with the performance overall. We got on the front foot and controlled the areas of the game that we wanted from the opening whistle."
In his first home match back since August, senior
Moshe Perez (Shim'a, Israel) opened the scoring in the 12
th minute. Sophomore
Destan Norman (Fort Collins, Colo.) played a ball into Perez 30 yards out in the center of the field. Perez turned and curled his second goal of the season inside the post.
Senior
Andre Shinyashiki (Sao Paulo, Brazil) netted his NCAA-leading 22
nd goal of the 2018 campaign in the 42
nd minute off combination play from freshman
Liam Johnson (Golden, Colo.) and senior
Tosh Samkange (Sammamish, Wash.).
Shinyashiki and senior winger
Kenny Akamatsu (Niigata, Japan) combined on Denver's third tally of the evening. Denver's leading scorer played Akamatsu down the left side, who cut back into the center of the bark and slipped freshman
Stefan DeLeone (Fort Collins, Colo.) in behind for his finish around the Western Illinois keeper for his third of the campaign.
Akamatsu scored a goal of his own in the 59
th minute, firing his second of the season from 25 yards out off an assist from freshman centerback
Callum Stretch (Encino, Calif.). Denver outshot Western Illinois 15-5, and the Pioneers' defense held Western Illinois without a shot on goal in the victory.
UP NEXT:
Denver is back in action on Tuesday as the Pioneers welcome Saint Louis back to the Mile High City. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. MT, and the match will be broadcast live on Altitude 2. The Pioneers will then wrap-up their home schedule at Stanford on Oct. 26 (8 p.m. MT), before hosting Oral Roberts on Senior Day, Nov. 3 at 7 p.m. MT.
TICKETS:
Single-game tickets for the 2018 Denver men's soccer season are also on sale, and can be
purchased here.
PIONEER MOVEMENT: Fans interested in making a donation to the men's soccer program can do so by clicking here. Your contribution will make a direct impact on the success of YOUR Pioneers. Thank you in advance for your unwavering support of our student-athletes and their quest for excellence.
- Pioneer Together –
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