Men’s Soccer Lose at San Francisco, 3-1

Men’s Soccer Lose at San Francisco, 3-1
SAN FRANCISCO – On Senior Night at Negoesco Stadium, a pair of San Francisco seniors stepped up by scoring three second half goals to lead the Dons to a 3-1 win over Santa Clara in a West Coast Conference match on Saturday.  
 
Santa Clara got on the board first on a Javier Ruiz Duran goal just four minutes into the match, however, San Francisco (6-9-1, 4-2 WCC) reeled off three unanswered goals despite getting outshot 18-12 in the match.  The Broncos had numerous scoring opportunities stifled by the Dons goalkeeper Ruben Stuiver who finished with 10 saves and also by the woodwork.  
 
The Broncos (5-10-1, 1-5 WCC) came out firing from the get go, peppering the Dons defense with three shots on goal in the first seven minutes.  The second of those shots came when Alan Camacho Soto chipped the ball over an onrushing Stuiver hitting the underside of the crossbar.  The ball did not cross the goal line on the bounce but Ruiz Duran was in the right spot and tapped it in for his sixth goal of the season.
 
Even though Santa Clara outshot San Francisco 9-6 in the first half, including six on frame, the score remained 1-0 at the half.  
 
The Dons leveled the match five minutes into the second half when senior Santiago Digiuseppe tapped the corner kick short, took the pass back and penetrated into the box, slotting it past Bronco goalkeeper Henning Jolivet low to the far post.
 
San Francisco got the go ahead goal in the 61st minute when another San Francisco senior Sean Bowman created space with his dribble in the right corner of the 18, and shot it past Jolivet.  
 
The Broncos had multiple golden opportunities to equalize but Stuiver was up to the task saving a Nate Shue header and a Julian Bravo screamer.  In between, a Bronco shot hit the crossbar to allow San Francisco to maintain its one goal lead. 
 
Bowman put the match away with his second goal in the 75th minute when the Bronco defense could not clear a free kick inside the box.  Bowman fought off a Bronco defender to get his foot on the ball past Jolivet to make it 3-1. 
 
QUOTABLE: 
 
"The players played about as well as we have this season in the first half.  We got on top of the game early and had some more chances to double our lead.  Going into the half we wanted to sustain the quality for the second 45.  But in the second half, we just beat ourselves.  We conceded a goal early and lost confidence. Even with that we attacked well and had a number of good looks to score goals to put us ahead or later in the game to draw us at level.  We will continue to push and learn from the experience." -Broncos head coach Cam Rast
 
NEXT UP: 
 
Santa Clara concludes its 2018 season visiting San Diego on Friday.  Kickoff is at 7 p.m.
 
NOTES: 
  • Freshman Alejandro Barajas saw his first action of the season, getting credited with two shots.  

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