University of San Francisco Athletics

It helps to have some talent, and the Seals, who lead the D3 League's West Division with a 13-2 mark, have a corps of players who could be competing at a higher level. Four midfielders, Marquis White, Kenneth Folan and coach Simpson's sons, Shani and Kimtai, are the core of Seals attack, scoring 25 of the team's 47 goals in 15 league matches. Forward Shane Watkins and goalie Aram Kardzair also are part of the Seals' heart. It's no coincidence that all six players are USF alumni.

"We're different from most teams in that the guys have played together for so long; a lot of the guys have played together since they were 7 years old," Tom Simpson said (SFGate).

The Dons had a strong recruiting year to make up for the loss of these key players. USF landed one of the country's most sought after players in defender Troy Dayak, a member of the national youth team. Also new to the team are freshman forwards Zack Taylor and John Mora, freshman defenders Ken Folan and Mike Dingle, and junior college transfer Marquis White. Seniors Tim McEnery and Yuri Simpson are captains on the Dons this year. McEnery returns as the only Don to start all 21 games last season. "His teammates will look for a great deal of leadership from Tim," says Negoesco.

USF struck quickly and dramatically as Knut Leroy scored his first goal of the season on an assist from Ken Folan. Folan crossed from thc left-corner to Leroy who headed in the ball past a stunned Hornet goalkeeper at 1:55 into the game. After constantly attacking the Hornet goal, Jan Nordvik broke away from the Sacramento defenders and passed to a wide-open Zack Taylor at the 38:47 mark for a 2-0 lead. USF outshot Sacramento 9-5 in the first half (TheFoghorn).