THE RUNDOWN

PORTLAND – The University of San Francisco men's soccer team finished off their two-match road trip to the Pacific Northwest with an important win over league leaders, the Portland Pilots.
 
USF got off to a fast start when a shot from Bryce Kaminski, in the second minute, caromed off the post and right to the feet of Tawwab Emiola, who slotted it home to make it 1-0. Portland grabbed their equalizer with six minutes to play in the first half when Matt Coffey chipped a headed pass from Benji Michel passed the on rushing Ruben Stuiver to make it 1-1. But, just before half time, Leon Schwarzer put the Dons back ahead when he gathered a cross into the box from Manny Padilla, which he back heeled past Portland's keeper to make it 2-1 USF.
 
Fifteen minutes into the second half, Santiago Digiuseppe added a much needed insurance goal as he headed home a cross from Aaron Lombardi to make it 3-1 to the Dons. Portland wasn't going down without a fight, but the back line was able to stop the Pilots from mustering a clear-cut chance at goal in the closing minutes.
 
This win caps off a two match road trip that saw the Dons go 2-0 and improve to 6-8 overall and 3-1 in the West Coast Conference. That record and point total has the Dons tied for second in the WCC with a game in hand on the leaders, the Pilots.
 
COACHES QUOTE
USF head coach Eddie Soto
 
On today's performance
It's a great result for us coming off a strong result on Friday night. To come to Portland and play a very strong game, it was a great way to finish the weekend. It was fantastic to see our team impose our game plan and philosophy on Portland. We showed a lot of grit and handled the few momentum shifts that happened. Our backline, Noah [Leong] Bar [Twito], Matt [Orr] and Manny [Padilla] had a fantastic game, denying them any attacking rhytm.
 
On Tawwab hitting form down the home stretch of the season
He's been training really, really well and it's just a byproduct of his hard work. Him getting two goals was a credit to what he brings to practice every day.
 
On using this win as a springboard for the rest of the season
Really gritty and gutsy performance for our guys, and we're happy with the win. But there's a lot more still to do before the end of the season, and we'll look to build off this weekend.
 
STATS OF THE GAME

• This win puts the Dons in a tie for second in the League with Pacific. USF and Pacific both have a game in hand on the rest of the league, which will be played against each other.
• In a physical conference game, the Dons committed 19 fouls to the Pilots' 12.
• Emiola finished the road trip with a goal in consecutive games, with the second coming as the opener against Portland.
• Santiago Digiuseppe got back to scoring ways, scoring the third goal for the Dons. His goal gets him back up in a tie with Sean Bowman for the team lead in goals with six.
• Padilla's assist puts him at six total for the season, and tied for third in the conference.

 
NEXT UP
The Dons will hit the road again as they head south to take on San Diego on Nov. 3 at 7 p.m. The Dons will look to continue their winning streak in a pivotal West Coast Conference match against the Toreros.