Box Score (San Francisco) – San Francisco men's soccer opened the 2011 campaign against ancient Bay Area rival No. 7 Cal and dropped the hard-fought contest 1-0 on a foggy Friday night in front of a capacity crowd at Negoesco Stadium. The Dons (0-1-0) put up a ferocious fight, but could not find the back of the net against the defending Pac-12 champion Bears (1-0-0).
Junior forward John Fitzpatrick scored the only goal of the match in the 22nd minute on an apparent cross that just slipped in to the far post. Junior midfielder Tony Salciccia recorded the assist on the play. Both teams attempted four shots in the opening half.
"You can never be happy with a loss," USF head coach Erik Visser said. "Despite the result I was encouraged with the way the team responded to the challenge of competing against one of the top teams in the country."
USF's heralded crop of newcomers energized the crowd of 1990, featuring more than 750 students. There was plenty of action to cheer.
"It was a wonderful environment and it meant a great deal to our young team," Visser said. "The energy and enthusiasm gave us a definite lift."
Cal held a 12-10 shot advantage and a 6-3 edge in attempts on target. Four Bears recorded a pair of shots apiece.
Freshman forward
Miguel Aguilar and sophomore midfielder
Mauricio Diaz De Leon fired a team and match-high three shots for the Dons.
"I thought our defending was very good and I thought the back four played a very good game," Visser said. "I think it really started with
Miguel Aguilar up top. He brought so much energy to the team. I thought in many ways he was the catalyst.
Mauricio Diaz De Leon also had a very good game."
Robby Gogatz (1-0-0) collected the shutout for Cal, while junior keeper
Brendan Roslund (0-1-0) suffered the loss for the Dons. Roslund made five saves, four coming after intermission.
San Francisco returns to action when it hosts Cal State Bakersfield Thursday, September 1. Match time is set at 7:00 PM at Negoesco Stadium in a game streamed live on USFDons.com and Stretch Internet.
