SAN FRANCISCO –
Joshua Smith made sure his final appearance at Negoesco Stadium was a memorable one. Smith, one of the Dons' seven seniors honored prior to the game, rose above the crowd to head in
Santiago Digiuseppe's long free kick as time expired to lift USF to a 4-3 overtime win over San Diego on Sunday evening.
"I think the goal was a representation of the team and how we didn't give up, we showed grit and we wanted to get a result for the seniors, but also for the team so that we could end on a high note and keep improving," Smith said.
USF got a goal from Smith's fellow senior,
Davi Ramos, in the 40th minute when Ramos corralled a loose ball in the box and slipped a shot past USD keeper Thomas Olsen.
"It's always tough on Senior Night because a lot of the guys are really emotional," said head coach
Eddie Soto. "You usually start off pretty slow and I felt that we did. About 15 minutes into the game we finally got into a groove. But when you look at the result and your seniors stepped up it's fitting."
Aaron Lombardi helped USF (7-8-0, 3-3-0) get on the board first with his second goal of the season in the 18th minute. Lombardi slotted in a beautifully-placed ball into the far corner from the edge of the penalty box to give the Dons an early 1-0 lead.
The advantage would last until San Diego's Miguel Berry scored the first of his three goals on the night in the 33rd minute with a low line drive from the wing pounded past USF keeper
Andre Glasnovic. Just over a minute later, Berry struck again, this time from around 15 yards straight on to put the USD (5-9-3, 2-4-0) up 2-1.
Ramos' score tied the game at 2-2 before Berry connected again in the 47th minute with a header looped over Glasnovic's head.
While the USF scoring was dominated by upperclassmen, freshman
Matt Orr found an opportune time for his first career goal. Orr netted the equalizer in the 64th minute off a long corner kick that somehow sailed through the entire crowded box until Orr – the last man in the line - directed it into the corner to help force overtime.
The back and forth scoring was indicative of a contest that saw USF hold a slight 16-15 edge in shots on the night.
Glasnovic recorded three saves in goal before being replaced by senior
Ryan Buckingham, whose lone save came on a rocket off the foot of Jared Hegardt in the 83rd minute that helped preserve the tie.
The match was USF's highest scoring affair since a 5-1 win over La Salle last season. It was also the Dons' second consecutive overtime win at home after USF topped Gonzaga 2-1 on Oct. 16.
USF will wrap up the regular season next Saturday when they travel to Loyola Marymount for a 7 p.m. kickoff.
