SAN FRANCISCO -- The USF men's soccer team turned in a hard-fought 98 minutes of soccer on Sunday afternoon, but a golden goal in the 98th minute was the difference in the Dons' 1-0 loss to Saint Mary's at Negoesco Stadium. The defeat gives USF (4-10-0, 2-1-0) their first loss in West Coast Conference play.
"It's a tough one to swallow," commented USF head coach Eddie Soto after the match. "We didn't play our best today, and we're just trying to improve our consistency. We did well with possession, but they're a team that looks for set pieces and that's what beat us today."
The game winner came on a set piece following a USF foul. SMC's Cory Schmidt looped the free kick into the box where Will Kendall had just enough space to head the ball into the net amidst a crowded box.
Up to that point, the match was very evenly contested with each team registering nine shots overall. The Gaels (5-8-1, 2-1-0) held a commanding 10-4 advantage in corner kicks in an otherwise close match.
The Dons came within striking distance with a number of good chances throughout the match. In the ninth minute, Bryce Kaminski dished a nice touch pass to David Garrett making a run inside the box, but Garrett's shot was stabbed by SMC keeper Lucas Champenois who was setup right in front of Garrett for the save.
Right before halftime, USF thought they'd taken a 1-0 lead when Kevin Gould sent in a beautiful pass to Christian De Luna, who headed the ball in for the score, but the play was nullified when De Luna was whistled for offsides.
Then, in the 67th minute of play, Davi Ramos had a brief advantage on a counter attack in SMC territory, but he couldn't get a clean shot off inside the box as a Gael defender stifled the chance.
Saint Mary's also had a few close looks of their own. One of which came when SMC's Stephen Dougherty fired a line drive shot off the crossbar from the edge of the penalty box in the 56th minute.
Dougherty later challenged USF keeper Andre Glasnovic again in the 93rd minute when he ripped a firm shot towards the net that Glasnovic had to corral on a tricky short hop to preserve the scoreless tie at that point.
"I think with a group like ours," added Soto, "it's just a matter of helping them understand that every game is a meaningful game and we have to be ready to compete. You learn lessons from losses and I hope we learned a big lesson today."
The Dons will retool with a short break before they travel to the Pacific Northwest to take on Gonzaga (Oct. 30) and Portland (Nov. 1) as they continue their WCC slate.
