SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – Beginning their five-game homestand with a victory, the University of San Francisco men's soccer team (3-0-1) hung on to take down defending Big West champion UC Riverside (0-4), 2-1, on Sunday afternoon at Negoesco Stadium behind a gritty performance on both sides of the ball.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:
- Getting on the board within the first few minutes of the match, UC Riverside found the back of the net at the 8:06 mark as the Highlanders took an early 1-0 advantage following a goal from Brendan Clark.
- Firing right back, San Francisco notched their first attempts of the game in the minutes to follow as Ramon Munoz Jr. and Gabriel Bracken Serra ripped their opening shots.
- In the 29th minute, Highlander goalkeeper Carlos Gonzalez was called for a foul in the box, which then set up a penalty kick opportunity for the green and gold.
- Making the most of his free kick, Bracken Serra stepped up and nailed the kick to square things up at 1-1.
- As the half played on, San Francisco continued to attack the opposition as TJ Knight and Zane Alafranji fired shots of their own as the first half wound down, but the two teams could not find a go-ahead goal through the opening 45 minutes of play as the score remained knotted at 1-1 heading into the halftime break.
- Starting the second half strong, Knight attacked UC Riverside's defense to open play, which resulted in the Dons being awarded a corner kick. Next, Arjan Dosanjh placed a beautiful ball inside the box off the corner before Reid Roberts headed home his first goal of the season at 46:06 to put San Francisco in front, 2-1.
- Staying steady on the defensive side of the ball, the green and gold continued to deny UCR offensively as the Highlanders could not find the equalizer they needed down the stretch. At the 82nd minute mark, Alafranji fired another shot on target for the Dons, but Gonzalez ultimately kept the Dons off the board once more as it remained a one-score game.
- Locking down for the final nine minutes of the contest, San Francisco did not allow a shot after 82:36 as the Dons hung on to secure their third win of the season, 2-1, and remain undefeated at home so far in 2023.
NOTABLE PERFORMANCES:
- For the green and gold, Bracken Serra netted his second goal of the fall in Sunday's win while Roberts scored his first goal of the new season.
- As a team, San Francisco outshot UC Riverside 7-1 in the first half and 10-6 in overall, which included an 8-3 advantage in shots on goal. Notably, the Dons had eight different student-athletes record at least one shot in the win as all eight players also tallied at least one shot on goal.
- Dating back to the start of the 2022 season, San Francisco is now 7-1-2 in their last nine nonconference games at home.
POSTGAME WITH THE DONS:
UP NEXT:
San Francisco will continue their stretch of consecutive home games when they welcome CSU Bakersfield to the Hilltop this upcoming Thursday, Sept. 7 for a 7:00 pm matchup at Negoesco Stadium. Live streaming and live statistics will both be available via the team's schedule page. Tickets to Thursday's match are available via
usfdons.com/tickets and 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 –
San Francisco Toyota - 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.
