Gus Donoghue's USF Don soccer squad won their eleventh straight Northern California Inter-Collegiate Soccer Conference as they blasted SF State Gators 10-0 last week. The Hilltoppers had a 70 league record, extending their undefeated string to 37 games. The Dons made a complete shambles of the rest of the league, scoring 58 goals to their opponents 2 (USFFoghorn).
In the last few years the luster and the prestige which have accompanied the acquisition of national basketball championships have tended to overshadow the accomplishments of USF's most successful, but least publicized athletic endeavor, soccer. Since 1930, the tradition of a winning soccer team on the Hilltop has been honored by almost every group of Don booters; this year's ball club was no exception.
The 1958-1959 version of the USF soccer team was one of the strongest ever fielded on the Hilltop, under the skillful direction of Dr. Augustine P. "Gus" Donoghue, annexed their eleventh consecutive Northern California Intercollegiate Soccer Conference Championship. In compiling a record of seven wins and no losses in league competition, the booters completed their fourth consecutive undefeated season. An even more remarkable achievement was the unprecedented 57 goals which were scored in conference play, while the opposition could register only two points against them.The devastating mixture of a high scoring offense and an air-tight defense produced a combination which no team came close to matching.
At the outset of the season, Coach "Gus" Donoghue painted a picture of the prospects of this year's soccermen, citing graduation losses and "greatly" improved opponents as major obstacles which had to be surmounted. The amazing success of this year's club shows how effectively these challenges were met and overcome.
With a strong contingent returning from the 1957 Championship team, including All-Conference performers Tony Njoku and Wayne Saindon, and veterans Stan Jonah, Eric Fink, Serge Burenin, Mauricio Salaverta, Sal Iraheta, Ed Duran, Louie Duran and Jose Backovic, Coach Donoghue began to build a bail club. Four outstanding newcomers, Frank Suarez, Ludwig Soddermann, Herb Weiss and bill Gallindo provided Donoghue with the additional ingredients he needed to mold a winning team (TheDon).
