Senior Andre Shinyashiki (São Paulo, Brazil) scored his 23rd and 24th goals on the season to defeat the Saint Louis Billikens. Shinyashiki, the nation’s leading goal scorer, puts the Pioneers in prime position for the end of the season with a 12-2-2 record going into tournament play in the coming weeks.

The Pioneers and the Billikens were evenly matched in the first half as they tied with 4 shots apiece. Redshirt-senior Scott DeVoss (Centennial, Colo.) would come closest to the goal for the Pioneers as his header in the 31st minute was saved by the Billikens keeper. The first half would end scoreless.

In the second half, fancy footwork by senior Kenny Akamatsu (Niigata, Japan) earned a penalty kick for the Pioneers after a Billiken defender tripped Akamatsu inside the box in the 55th minute. Shinyashiki would step, place the ball to the keeper’s left and capitalize from the spot to put the Pioneers ahead 1-0. The Billikens would quickly equalize 38 seconds later when a shot from a Billiken player deflected shot off of a teammate.

With the score 1-1, the Pioneers continued to press on offense with close shots from senior Moshe Perez (Shim’a, Israel) and Akamatsu. Inside the 84th minute, the Pioneers earned a free kick just outside the 18-yard box. Perez sent in an inswinger from the left side where Shinyashiki would head it into the back of the net to make the score 2-1.

Redshirt-sophomore Will Palmquist (Denver) would come with a massive save in the 90th minute to deny the Billikens a late equalizer.

The Pioneers showed class as Shinyashiki got his eighth multi-goal game on the season and has scored an NCAA-leading nine game-winning goals. Shinyashiki is now six goals ahead of second place in the golden boot race. The Pioneers, on Nov. 3, will take on Summit league opponent Oral Roberts on Senior night at 7 p.m. MST.