Dons Have Weekend Bye Before Closing Season in Southern California
(Moraga, CA) – San Francisco men's soccer saw its unbeaten streak come to an end with a tough 1-0 loss at Saint Mary's in the closing seconds of regulation Wednesday afternoon in West Coast Conference action at Saint Mary's Stadium. The Dons (3-11-3, 1-7-2 WCC) suffer a season sweep to the Gaels (10-5-1, 6-3-0 WCC), who remain very much alive in pushing for the first WCC title in program history.
An Erik Rivas header with 19 seconds remaining in regulation secured Saint Mary's fourth consecutive victory. The Gaels have allowed just one goal during the winning streak. It was the second goal of the season for Rivas, off an assist from Dylan Leslie.
USF enjoyed a strong first half and held a 5-4 shot edge before the intermission. Saint Mary's owned the second half and out-shot the Dons 9-1 for a 13-6 advantage for the contest. Freshman midfielder Mauricio Diaz De Leon recorded a pair of shots to lead San Francisco. Both teams were playing their third match since Friday.
"We played a very good first half," USF head coach Erik Visser said. "We hit the crossbar and had a couple good chances and played very well. In the second half, I think fatigue set in a little bit and Saint Mary's put more pressure on us and created more opportunities."
Sophomore goalkeeper Brendan Roslund suffered the loss and made three saves on the afternoon. Doug Herrick collected his third shutout win in his last four matches and stopped a pair of USF shots.
USF returns to action Friday, November 12, 2010 when it travels to Southern California for the final two WCC matches of the 2010 season, beginning at San Diego. The Dons and Toreros battle it out starting at 7:00 PM at Torero Stadium.
