JOLIET, Ill. --- Making the most of its five shots on goal, the University of St. Francis men's soccer team scored on three of those attempts, including twice in a 49-second span, to defeat St. Ambrose University 3-1 in a Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference contest at Joliet Memorial Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

One of the nation's top goal scorers, Zakhar Shkidchenko did nothing to hurt that ranking with two more goals on Saturday. In fact, his first goal, which came 2:53 into the second half, was the first shot on goal for the Saints on the day and just the second for either team up to that point. Diego Cortes provided the assist.

Both teams managed just five shots each in the opening 45 minutes of play with the first shot on goal of the match coming at the 42:31 mark by St. Ambrose. For the game, the Fighting Bees would produce just four shots on goal and 11 total attempts. St. Francis totaled 15 shots.

USF's second shot on goal – 49 seconds after Shkidchenko – also resulted in a score when Sergio Fernandez-Arango connected from 15 yards out for his sixth goal of the season.

Shkidchenko's 15th goal of the campaign off a pass from Santos Contreras came at the 71:36 mark and put the Saints up 3-0.

St. Ambrose (4-6-2, 1-6-1 CCAC) avoided being blanked by scoring in the 75th minute to ruin Carson Heglund's bid for his second shutout of the season. He finished with three saves.

The win was the third in four outings for the Saints, who improved to 4-3-1 in league play and 4-8-1 overall with the two-goal victory.

Up Next
The Saints continue their two-match homestand on Wednesday night when they face Trinity International University in another CCAC affair beginning at 7 pm at Joliet Memorial Stadium.       

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