STOCKTON, Calif. - On the road for their second straight game, the University of San Francisco men's soccer team (7-2-4, 1-1-1 WCC) took care of business on Saturday as the Dons downed Pacific (4-5-4, 0-2-1 WCC), 1-0, at Knoles Field on Saturday evening.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:
- Just a few minutes into the action, Max Hamelink fired the first shot of the evening for the Dons at the 5:47 mark, but was denied early on by Pacific goalkeeper Joshua Moya.
- Continuing to attack offensively to open play, Gabriel Bracken Serra, Max Hamelink and Olivier Sylvain would each tally shots of their own in the minutes to follow, but would also come up just a bit short early on.
- As the half moved along, the Dons would go on to outshoot the Tigers 8-6 through the first 45 minutes, but the match remained scoreless at the halftime break as neither side could break through to start.
- Wasting little time out of the locker room, Hamelink capitalized on his first opportunity in the second half as Gabriel Bracken Serra found the midfielder for his second goal of the season at the 47:25 to give San Francisco a 1-0 lead
- Down the stretch, USF kept on the heels of the Tigers as the green and gold remained hungry on the offensive end as Max Mair, Elias Thomas, Kaleb Afsari and Alex Solomis each recorded shots of their own in addition to another attempt from Sylvain.
- Although these shots would not fall, the defense for the Dons remained strong as San Francisco held Pacific off the scoreboard to close the match despite the Tigers looking to even things on their home field. Hanging on through a full 90 minutes, USF went on to secure the 1-0 victory as the green and gold picked up their first conference victory of the season and their fifth clean sheet of the year.
NOTABLE PERFORMANCES:
- Offensively, Hamelink and Sylvain paced the team with four shots each as seven different Dons tallied at least one shot against the Tigers. For Hamelink, his goal in the 48th minute was his second of the fall.
- In goal, Eric Waltz picked up his fifth shutout this year as the keeper also registered five or more saves for the third time this season.
- Getting hot as a group, San Francisco picked up their second straight road victory on Saturday night as the Dons previously upset No. 9 Stanford, 2-1, on Thursday, Oct. 12 prior to the win over the Tigers.
CATCHING UP WITH COACH BROWN:
"It was a gritty win on the road against a good Pacific team.
Max Hamelink was exceptional tonight and scored a great goal off a tremendous effort from
Arjan Dosanjh and
Gabriel Bracken Serra. Our back line and
Eric Waltz battled all night, made some important plays and got a key shutout on the road. We look forward to Wednesday night against the top team in the conference."
UP NEXT:
San Francisco will play two matches next week as the Dons will travel to Santa Clara next Wednesday, Oct. 25 for a 7:00 pm showdown with the Broncos before returning home to the Hilltop to host Saint Mary's on Saturday, Oct. 28 at 7:00 pm. Live streaming and live statistics for both matches will be available via the team's schedule page. Tickets to Saturday's game are also available via the team's schedule page.
FOLLOW US:
For updates and more information on the San Francisco men's soccer program, be sure to follow
@USFDonsMSoccer on Twitter,
@USFDonsMenssoccer on Instagram and
@USFDonsMSoccer on Facebook.
MERCHANDISE:
Want to dress like the Dons? Get your official San Francisco Dons gear from the University of San Francisco bookstore today!
Click here to purchase.
SPONSOR THE DONS:
The University of San Francisco Athletics Department would like to acknowledge and thank our sponsor – Evergood Foods - for their continued support of USF Athletics. Interested in sponsoring the Dons? Please contact
Frank Allocco, the Executive Senior Associate Athletics Director of External Relations, at fallocco@usfca.edu or at (415) 422-4561.
