Early goals in both halves too much for Bulldogs to overcome in 2-0 loss to No. 11 Denver Sunday night

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – The Bryant University men's soccer team minimalized the damage against the No. 11 team in the country, but could not muster much offense of its own and fell Denver, 2-0, to close out the Colorado trip on Sunday night.

The Pioneers (5-0-1) took little time to display their talent and potential by pulling out in front just five minutes into the game. Sophomore mid Andre Shinyashiki received a throw in on the right wing and made a wonderful move to his left which led to a low pass into the box. Alex Underwood got excellent position in front of a couple of Bulldog (0-5) defenders, turned from 10 yards out and sent a high rocket past an outstretched Nick Stewart (South Windsor, Conn.) into the goal.

The Pioneers were a little too fancy at times and conservative on the offensive side, methodically moving the ball from right to left. But when they did press forward, the Bulldogs had to defend vigorously, which they were able to do successfully for much of the night. The backline of senior Jake Lamar (New Haven, Conn.), Charlie Booth (Concord, Mass.), Drew Rushton (Middlebury, Conn.) and Pedro-Lucas Ferreira (East Boston, Mass.) played well, warding off a plethora of crosses and scoring chances from inside the box.

Looking to give the hosts what seemed like a commanding two-goal edge, Kenny Akamatsu nearly did so in the 39th minute with a hard left-footed shot from the left wing. Stewart stopped it with his body, and the rebound was initially booted in by Ryan Schaefer, but the offside flag was raised. The Pioneers had a couple of shots over the final 15 minutes of the half, but Bryant escaped the frame with just a 1-0 deficit.

The second-half began much like the first, as Denver was able to find the insurance goal it was searching for in the 50th minute. Following a dispossession in the Denver half, Underwood pushed forward up the middle of the field by crossing to Shinyashiki about 20 yards outside the box. The sophomore softly moved the ball forward and sent a through ball to Blake Elder on the right side of the box with the defense back peddling. Elder calmly placed a low shot into the far post as Stewart needed to creep out of his zone and could not prevent his team from falling behind 2-0.

Denver immediately slowed down its pace from that point on and were very meticulous with its runs and passes. Senior defender Reagan Dunk had an opportunity to push his team in front even more after receiving a pass from about 15 yards out on a give-and-go, but he ran over the ball and the Bulldogs cleared it.

On the tail end of a brief Bryant surge in the 72nd minute, junior Thomas Binder (Vienna, Austria) sent a hard strike with his left foot from 25 yards out on the left wing, but the low shot was saved by Nick Gardner.

Binder's attempt was the lone strike on goal for the Bulldogs and the first of two shots total, as Rushton skied a strike that ended up well out of bounds from nearly the same distance just a few minutes later. Stewart made two saves in the loss.

The Pioneers attempted 11 shots with four being goal, and earned all seven corners in the contest, as some were due to Bryant's defense making plays at the backline. Akamatsu led the hosts with three shots, one on target, and Elder's goal was his lone shot. Underwood struck a pair of shots with the one finding the back of net, and Shinyashiki had a shot on goal to go along with his two assists.

The Bulldogs return home but don't catch much of a break, as they have a quick turnaround with a matchup against No. 23 Vermont on Wednesday at 4:00 p.m.