DU Men’s Soccer took down Northwestern 5-0 on April 28 at the DU Soccer Stadium as senior transfer Moshe Perez (Shim’a, Israel) scored a first-half brace, and senior striker Andre Shinyashiki (Sao Paulo, Brazil) added a second-half brace in the victory. Shinyashiki finished with two goals and two assists on the night for a six-point evening, and Perez finished with two goals and a helper. Redshirt sophomore Dylan Keeney (Littleton, Colo.) contributed two assists to the game.
“I think we know we’re going to be talented in the attack this fall, but we’re looking to form an identity,” Head Coach Jamie Franks said. “That pro-activeness that has made us special in the past, we’ve missed the last week or so. When we don’t try to be the best version of ourselves every day, we’re not that good. We’re a collective team that needs each other, and this week we made large strides looking at ourselves and being honest with ourselves. When you go back and look at the spring as a whole, it was great to score a lot of goals, but we’re focused on looking at our identity and our culture, because we know that’s what it’s going to take to win championships.”
Perez scored his third goal of the spring in the 12th minute off assists from Keeney and Shinyashiki. Denver passed a ball over the top of the back four defenders that Keeney won the race to. Keeney played the ball back across to the top of the box to Shinyashiki, who took a couple touches to his right before slipping in Perez just outside the six. Perez chipped it over Northwestern starting keeper Miha Miskovic for the breakthrough.
Perez scored his second goal inside the opening 17 minutes, making a 25-yard run with the ball at his feet before beating Miskovic to his right from just outside the penalty area. Perez finished his spring with two multi-goal games (he scored twice at Creighton).
Senior winger Kenny Akamatsu (Niigata, Japan) made it 3-0 in the 56th minute, scoring a rebound off a Shinyashiki shot from inside the six-yard box.
Following two assists on the Pioneers first three goals, Shinyashiki scored his third of the spring in the 58th minute, finishing off a cross from Perez from the right wing. The senior striker got his second goal of the night and fourth goal of the spring season.
