Karl Kraft Scores First Career Goal for the Dons
(San Francisco) – USF men's soccer scored
first, but could not hold on as ancient Bay Area rival Santa Clara
notched two unanswered goals to take a 2-1 West Coast Conference
decision in the swirling fog at Negoesco Stadium. The Dons (2-10-2,
0-6-1 WCC) controlled play for much of the match, but the Broncos
(6-4-5, 3-0-4 WCC) made the Green and Gold pay dearly for two
mistakes.
San Francisco came out firing and finally connected in the 28th
minute when freshman forward Karl Kraft took a feed from sophomore
midfielder Vinny Caloiaro and banged it home on a volley to the far
post. It was the first career scoring strike for Kraft and staked
the Dons to a 1-0 halftime lead.
Santa Clara answered almost immediately after the intermission.
Wesley Culver fired a booming free kick to the far post from 30
yards on a shot deflected by USF sophomore keeper Brendan Roslund.
The score remained deadlocked until the 82nd minute when a failed
clearance doomed the Dons. Keigo Kameya deflected a ball into the
far post from the near side from distance to secure the win for the
Broncos, who extended their unbeaten streak to a remarkable nine
matches.
"When it rains it pours," USF head coach Erik Visser
said. "It's just been one of those seasons where
whatever can go wrong does. I though overall we played a good game,
scored a nice goal before halftime and I think the team went into
halftime with a lot of confidence. But again, it seems like every
game we make individual mistakes and tonight we gave up two very
soft goals. I feel disappointed for the guys because I know they
really tried hard, but by the same token, I give Santa Clara
credit. They were patient and they didn't make
mistakes."
Members of the Dons 1980 NCAA Championship squad were on hand to
celebrate the 30th anniversary of completing a magical 23-0-2
campaign. NSCAA Soccer Hall of Fame Coach Steve Negoesco was in
attendance to celebrate the accomplishments of his fifth NCAA title
team.
USF returns to action when it hosts 2009 NCAA Tournament
participant Portland in continuing WCC action Friday, October 29.
Match time against the Pilots is set for 7:00 PM at Negoesco
Stadium and will feature live video streaming on USFDons.com
courtesy of Yahoo Broadcast.
