Western Illinois 0-2 Denver (Carsonie 38’, Shinyashiki 73’)

MACOMB, Ill. – Freshmen Frank Carsonie (Hilliard, Ohio) and Andre Shinyashiki (Sao Paulo, Brazil) both found the back of the net and redshirt-senior goalkeeper Dan Jackson (Chapel Hill, N.C.) kept his fourth cleansheet of the campaign to lead the [12/12] University of Denver men’s soccer team to a 2-0 victory on Saturday afternoon at John MacKenzie Alumni Field.

“This was a really mature performance from our group today,” head coach Jamie Franks said. “Overall, the group was very disciplined out there, and we took our chances well. Having two freshmen score today is a testament to this entire group. It’s always nice to get a win on the road, especially in league play, and now we look ahead to Tuesday’s match against South Florida.”

Carsonie opened his collegiate account in the 38th minute to give the Pioneers (7-0-1, 1-0-0 Summit) a 1-0 lead. The Columbus Crew SC Academy product one-touched a Reagan Dunk (Dallas, Texas) pass into the upper-left corner past Western Illinois’ (2-6-1, 0-1-0 Summit) keeper Sam Copp. Saturday’s assist was Dunk’s fifth of the campaign from his right back position. With Carsonie’s strike, Denver has scored the first goal in six of its eight matches this season. Dunk entered the weekend 15th in the nation in assists.

“It’s good to see Frankie get on the score sheet this afternoon,” Franks said. “He’s been in a good run of form lately, and we’ve been asking him to get forward and go score some goals for us. Frankie took his chances very well today.”

After an attacking opening eight minutes from Western Illinois, Denver responded with eight of the next 10 shots, and took all four corner kicks in the opening 45 minutes. The Pioneers put five of their eight first-half attempts on target.

Western Illinois had a 10-minute spell in possession before Shinyashiki doubled the Pioneers advantage in the 73rd minute off Dunk’s sixth helper in 2015. Dunk slid a pass on the ground across the six-yard box, finding Shinyashiki at the far post. Shinyashiki’s third of the campaign was scored less than two minutes after coming on as a substitute in the second half.

The Pioneers outshot Western Illinois 12-9 in the 2015 Summit League opener. Denver put half of its 12 shots on target in the match. DU also took all seven corners on Saturday. Jackson made three saves in his first Summit League contest, his second highest tally since joining the Pioneers in the offseason. Dunk now has 11 career assists, and Saturday marks his first match with multiple assists in the same game.

“Andre’s been unlucky to not have scored in the last couple games, so it was good to see him get back on the score sheet here today.” Franks said.

Senior captain Jordan Schweitzer (Everett, Wash.), who left Sunday’s 2-1 extra time win over [RV/RV] Utah Valley with an injury, played 78 minutes on Saturday.

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