University of San Francisco Athletics

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SAN FRANCISCO—There was a lot to celebrate at Negoesco Stadium on Friday night. It was the first home game for new Head Coach Eddie Soto. It was USF legend Stephen Negoesco's birthday. Most importantly, the Dons got a late penalty goal from Danny Kirkland and fought their way to the 1-0 upset victory over No. 24 Florida Gulf Coast.
 
It is the second victory over a ranked team in USF's first four matches (No. 21 Wisconsin, Aug. 29) and it is the first time the Dons (3-1-0) have defeated two ranked teams in the same season since 2011.
 
"Every game is a learning experience for us," Soto said. "We have to start off better. Our guys may have been a little bit nervous being at home against a ranked team. It was a good crowd. It took them a while but they settled down."
 
Florida Gulf Coast controlled much of the early part of the match and tested San Francisco goalkeeper Chase Hauser early. In the first 15 minutes of action, FGCU was able to get off three shots and force two corner kicks but the Dons were able to fend off the Eagles and go into the half scoreless.
 
This is when San Francisco made its move.
 
"At halftime, I just told the guys we just need to be a little bit sharper on some of the fundamentals and we'll be able to take over the game and I felt we did that in the second half," Soto said. "We created chances and our pressure, they weren't able to withstand it and they finally broke down."
 
Coming out of the half, the Dons had a renewed energy and were on the offensive. USF controlled the ball in its half of the pitch for majority of the half and it began to take an emotional toll on FGCU.

In the 68th minute, Kirkland took a free kick from about 15 yards out but had his attempt go high. Three minutes later, Manny Padilla had a run deep into the box against the FGCU defense but a miskick gave the Eagles a goal kick.

"We felt as though we weren't up to our full potential at halftime," Kirkland said. "We came out with a mindset in the second half to really put the opposition under pressure and we felt if we could do that, it would be a key to win the game."
 
The turning point was the 76th minute when Will Suedois was given a red card for sliding into Miguel Aguilar. It was then the Dons went on the full attack. In the 79th minute, Romney chased down a cross in the center of the box and was met by FGCU goalie Nathan Ingham but was undercut, causing a penalty to be called.
 
"That's a credit to our guys, the amount of pressure they were putting on those guys," Soto said. "They weren't giving them any time on the ball. They were having a lot of turnovers. As a player, that's really frustrating and it finally took its toll."
 
Kirkland handled the rest as he drilled the kick to the left of a diving Ingham for the go-ahead goal, his second of the season.
 
The Dons will return to action on Sunday when they play host to Central Arkansas at 3 p.m. as part of a double header with the women's soccer team, who plays San Jose State at 12 p.m.