DENVER – Senior winger
Kenny Akamatsu (Niigata, Japan) scored the fourth goal of his career, but the [6/2] University of Denver men's soccer team and [13/RV] Colgate played to a 1-1 draw on Friday night at the University of Denver Soccer Stadium.
"We didn't have many players step up and play to their potential tonight. Overall it was a poor performance," head coach
Jamie Franks said. "However, for my guys to still be able to show resiliency after the slip on the equalizer and grind out a result is a good testament to their leadership. Obviously not having Moshe (Perez) changes things for us, but he'll be back soon enough as we take his injury day-by-day and week-by-week. Until he comes back, we need guys to step up. To not play well and still get a result against a good team is still an important one."
Denver (3-0-1) and Colgate (3-0-1) went into the intermission scoreless with the Pioneers holding a 7-5 edge in shots. Denver's best chance of the opening 45 minutes came in the ninth minute when senior striker
Andre Shinyashiki (Sao Paulo, Brazil) and sophomore
Jacob Stensson (Stockholm, Sweden) combined down the right to setup a laser from Shinyashiki that was kept out by Colgate keeper Jacob Harris.
Colgate's only shot on target in the first half came off a chance from a corner kick from Christian Clarke that was cleared off the line by Akamatsu to keep things scoreless heading into the break.
Akamatsu's second-half breakthrough came off a feed from sophomore midfielder
Destan Norman (Fort Collins, Colo.) down the left side. The Denver senior turned his defender and fired a 25-yard curler over the keeper's head and just under the crossbar to put the Pioneers ahead.
Denver absorbed Colgate's pressure well after the goal but on a thru-ball in from Kian Alberto, a Denver defender slipped on the wet turf and Steven Deleo was in on goal and beat senior goalkeeper
Nick Gardner (Marvin, N.C.) 1v1 to pull the visitors level.
"I think when we go back and watch the film, we'll see our game management was poor, our decision making was poor and our speed of play was poor," Franks said. "There are things to grow from, from this match if we approach it from the right mentality."
Colgate had the best chance in extra time, drawing a penalty kick in the 93
rd minute. Gardner was up to this 1v1 encounter from 12 yards, diving to his left to make the save on Aram Ouligian's kick from the penalty spot.
UP NEXT:
The Pioneers will continue their four match homestand with their tightest turnaround of the 2018 season to date when Denver welcomes North Florida to the University of Denver Soccer Stadium Sunday at 7 p.m. MT. The match will be streamed live on Pioneer Vision.
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.
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