Denver 1-0 North Florida (Elder 87’) 

DENVER – Redshirt-junior Blake Elder (Fort Worth, Texas) broke the 0-0 deadlock in the 87^th minute with his fourth in four to extend [8/13] University of Denver men’s soccer’s win streak to seven with a 1-0 win over [RV/-] North Florida on Saturday night at CIBER Field at the University of Denver Soccer Stadium.

“It’s a good sign of character and resilience from the group tonight to get a goal after it looked like it could just be one of those nights,” head coach Jamie Franks said. “We had chances that we normally put away, but the guys stayed the course and found the late winner.”

In the first half, Denver’s (7-0-1) two sophomore internationals had the best chances of the opening 45. In the 18^th minute Andre Shinyashiki (Sao Paulo, Brazil) got a header off a redshirt-senior Karsten Hanlin (Centennial, Colo.) cross to the back post, but the sophomore’s effort was just outside the post. On 37 minutes, Kenny Akamatsu (Niigata, Japan) had a hit from just inside the 18 with North Florida keeper Juanes Fajardo getting back into his net after Sam Hamilton’s (Evergreen, Colo.) run brought him out, but Akamatsu’s try was also just wide.

North Florida (3-2-1) and Denver had three shots, three fouls and two corners aside and neither keeper had to make a save in the opening 45 minutes.

Denver continued to push in the second half, creating seven corner kicks and holding a 12-4 edge in shots in the second stanza. Substitute goalkeeper Tord Pedersen made six saves in the second 45, and UNF defender’s cleared two balls off the line.

Elder, now with a goal in four games on the spin, finished off a piece of brilliant build-up from Hamilton and Shinyashiki. The senior captain sprayed the ball out wide to the sophomore striker, who took a touch, played a sharp ground cross to a timed run from Elder to setup the point-blank finish. Saturday’s assists were Hamilton and Shinyashiki’s fifth each in 2016.

“I think if you looked at the first four games, Blake (Elder) was unlucky to not finish a few chances,” Franks said. “He continues to put himself in great spots and he’s got the reward he’s deserved from that during this homestand.”

With the win, Denver stretched its unbeaten run in regular season matches, which dates back to Halloween, 2014, to 25 matches.

“It’s a testament to the guys,” Franks said. “They approach every game the same, and understand their positioning, work rate and mentality are the foundation of what we do. No matter the condition or circumstance, the guys have done their jobs extremely well.”

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