Dons Host Stanford Thursday, September 16
(San Francisco) – USF could not capitalize on its scoring
opportunities and No. 20 Cal State Bakersfield did, posting a 2-0
shutout victory on a beautiful Saturday afternoon at Negoesco
Stadium. The Dons (1-1-1) suffer their first loss of the season to
the Roadrunners (3-0-0) in the first ever meeting between the two
teams.
San Francisco had an opportunity a scant 57 seconds into the match
as freshman midfielder Mauricio Diaz De Leon collected a ball in
front of the net with the keeper out and lofted the ball over a
pair of CSUB defenders. The ball glanced softly off the cross bar
and fell to the FieldTurf inches from the goal line but USF could
not send it to the back of the net.
After dodging the Dons early scoring opportunity, Cal State
Bakersfield struck first in the eighth minute with a brilliant goal
by Ernesto Hinojosa from 25 yards out from the left flank to the
far post. The Runners made it 2-0 in the closing minutes of the
first half as Jesus Sanchez scored his second of the year in the
42nd minute sending a shot to the far post from 10 yards on the
right flank.
San Francisco had several scoring opportunities in the second half,
but simply could not convert or overcome two spectacular plays by
the Runner's defense. Senior forward Jeff Penna was denied on
what looked to be a certain goal in the 68th minute but the shot
was cleared off the goal line on a bicycle kick. Junior midfielder
Felix Luna also had a pair of solid chances.
USF held a 14-12 shot advantage, 9-6 in the second half. The Dons
were whistled for a whopping 20 fouls compared to just six for
CSUB.
Sophomore goalkeeper Brendan Roslund (1-1-1) suffered the loss for
the Dons and made seven saves on 12 shots faced, while his
counterpart Eric Shannon (3-0-0) remained unblemished on the season
and collected five saves for the shutout.
USF returns to action when it hosts Bay Area rival Stanford to the
Hilltop Thursday, September 16 as part of the Bay Area Soccer
Classic. Match time against the Cardinal is set for 7:00 PM at
Negoesco Stadium.
