Bulldogs Squeeze Past Dons in Overtime

Saturday, October 23

San Francisco, Calif.

7:00 PM

University of San Francisco

2-8-1, 0-2-1

Gonzaga

7-6-0, 2-1-0

Team	1	2	3	Final F
Gonzaga	1	1	1	3
San Francisco	0	2	0	2

Photo by: Christina Leung

10/23/2021 11:05:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Box Score

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – Returning home to The Hilltop for one match, the University of San Francisco men's soccer team (2-8-1, 0-2-1) battled Gonzaga (7-6-0, 2-1-0) on Saturday night, but ultimately fell to the Bulldogs, 3-2, in overtime at Negoesco Stadium.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

Aiming to get the offense flowing early in the rainy conditions, Tobias Wangerud fired the first shot of the game at 1:14 as the Dons pressed on the attack to begin the contest.
Shortly thereafter, the match turned chippy on both sides, which included a red card exlcusion on USF's Elias Thomas in the 21st minute. This card would force the Dons to play a man down for the remainder of the game. Just a few moments later, Gonzaga got on the scoreboard first in the 24^th minute on a goal from Wylie Trujilo to take a 1-0 lead.
Closing out the first half, Nonso Adimabua and Karl Josefsson would register their first shots on goal of the evening in the 28^th minute, but USF could not find the back of the net in the first 45 minutes as the Bulldogs held onto their one goal advantage at the halftime break.
Moving into the second half, the Dons would answer to draw even at one at 55:07 on a tremendous header goal from Nonso Adimabua, which was delivered via a beautiful corner kick from Kevyn Lo.
As the match played on, the two sides continued to exchange shots, but Gonzaga once again pulled in front in the 76^th minute, this time on a goal from midfielder Frankie Ljucovic.
Not giving up, USF battled back once again to level the score as they scored their second goal of the night on a corner kick in the 79^th minute when Gabriel Bracken Serra launched a perfect ball into the box. Finding the perfect positioning, Shayan Charalaghi squeezed his header past the Bulldog goalkeeper to knot the match at two.
With neither side able to find the go-ahead strike in the final minutes of regulation, the contest required an overtime period. After Ljucovic launched another shot to begin the period, Gonzaga ultimately found the game-winner with less than three minutes remaining on a goal from Leon Sitz to secure the 3-2 road victory.

NOTABLE PERFORMANCES:

Despite the loss, Adimabua is now solely in third place in the WCC with an impressive five goals on the season. Overall, he also ranks fourth in total points (10) and is tied for third in shots (29).
For Charalaghi, the senior is now second on the team in goals as his strike on Saturday marked his third of the fall and his second straight match with a goal.
In the cage, USF logged eight saves to Gonzaga's six as goalkeeper Brandon Keniston notched his third consecutive match with at least five saves.

UP NEXT:
USF will get back on the road when they make the short trip to Stockton next Wednesday, Oct. 27 for a 7:00 pm matchup at Pacific. Live streaming and live stats will be available via the team's schedule page.

FOLLOW US:
For updates and more information on the USF men's soccer program, be sure to follow @USFDonsMSoccer on Twitter, @USFDonsMenssoccer on Instagram and @USFDonsMSoccer on Facebook.