Dons Host Defending League Champion San Diego Sunday
Afternoon
(San Francisco) – USF men's soccer could not overcome a
defensive lapse in the closing seconds of the first half and Loyola
Marymount capitalized scoring the only goal of the match en route
to a 1-0 West Coast Conference victory Friday night at Negoesco
Stadium. The Dons (2-5-1, 0-1-0 WCC) played well at times but could
not find the back of the net against the Lions (5-3-1, 1-0-0 WCC)
in the league opener for both teams.
Christian Alvarado made his first career goal memorable with 30
seconds remaining in the first half intercepting a pass and scoring
on a breakaway after beating sophomore USF goalkeeper Brendan Roslund in a one-on-one situation. The Dons had opportunities late,
but could not solve the Lion defense.
"I think we played a very good first half and it looked like
at halftime it would be scoreless," USF head coach Erik
Visser said. "We were pleased the way we were playing the
first half, but in WCC play it comes down to mental mistakes and we
made a mental mistake and gave up the goal right before half and it
changed the momentum. We changed our system in the second half, but
we were not able to find a rhythm. LMU is a very good, experienced
team and they had the better of the play in the second
half."
LMU held a 13-9 shots advantage, 9-6 in the second half. The Lions
also attempted eight corner kicks compared to just four for the
Dons. USF was not without opportunities as sophomore midfielder
Vinny Caloiaro had two shots go tantalizingly wide midway through
the second half.
Caloiaro, senior forward Bryan Burke and freshman forward Tanner Smith fired a pair of shots for the Dons. Vincent Ocampo and Roger
Downes fired a match-high three shots to pace LMU.
San Francisco played the final 10 minutes with 10 men after Burke
was sent off.
Roslund (1-4-1) suffered the loss for the Dons and made five saves,
while Jack McCormack (5-2-1) collected his third shutout of the
season behind four saves.
USF returns to action Sunday, October 3 when it hosts defending
league San Diego. Match time against the Toreros is set for 2:00 PM
at Negoesco Stadium. Live streaming video will be available on
USFDons.com, courtesy of Yahoo Broadcast.
