On Saturday, Oct. 14,  Denver Men’s Soccer defeated Fort Wayne University 3-1. With the win, they currently are 2-0-0 in Summit League play and 7-6-0 in all games played. Andre Shinyashiki (Sao Paulo, Brazil) scored twice in the game, redshirt-senior Kyle Morlack (Goodyear, Ariz.) scored the other goal. Asists were made by senior co-captain Graham Smith (Highlands Ranch, Colo.) and Jacob Stensson (Stockholm, Sweden). Stensson also picked up an assist on Shinyashiki’s second goal of the night. The Pioneers outshot Fort Wayne 14 to 5, with 6 shots coming in the first half, and 8 coming in the second half.

The first goal came from the Pioneers in the 19th minute when Morlack scored off a corner kick from Stensson and an assist from Smith. This was his first goal since his freshman season in 2013 against Indiana University-Purdue University Indiana and his fourth goal overall in his 4+ year career with the Pioneers. Head coach Jamie Franks said, “His hard work and grit makes him a leader by example in any organization. We’re happy that Kyle was able to get back on the scoresheet tonight.” Fort Wayne equalized in the 39th minute with a goal from Oscar Uyamuda from the inside 18th.

Franks said “We made a few adjustments at halftime, and I thought that we executed really well in the second half,” as the Pioneers outshot Fort Wayne 8 to 1. A strong defense helped limit the opportunities that Fort Wayne had, as an equally strong offense took 8 shots, 6 of which were on target.

In the second half, Shinyashiki scored the first of his two goals in the 72nd minute off of a penalty shot. He followed that off with a header in the 78th minute, assisted by a corner kick from Stensson. With these two goals, Shinyashiki remains sixth in Denver’s D1 history in points, with 51 points, and moved up to third in career goals scored, as well as third in game-winning goals scored. In his 2+ year career with the Pioneers, Shinyashiki has scored 20 goals, and seven game-winning goals.

After the game, Franks said “From top to bottom, that was our best performance of the year. They scored on one of their first chances of the game, which is never a good sign, but the resiliency that my guys showed is what makes them a dangerous group to play against. They never got down on themselves.”

The Pioneers continue their season with away games at Oral Roberts (Oct. 21), New Mexico (Oct. 25), Omaha (Oct. 28) and Western Illinois (Nov. 4).