CHICAGO, Ill.--- Three unanswered first-half goals helped propel the University of St. Francis men's soccer team past Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference rival Saint Xavier University by a 4-2 count Wednesday afternoon at Deaton Field.  
 

The Saints (5-3-2, 4-3-1 CCAC) already had a 2-0 lead just four minutes into the contest with both goals coming just 60 seconds apart. The first goal was a header by Amin Mizyed (JR/Oak Lawn, Ill.) off a corner kick from Zakhar Shkidchenko (Jr/Kiev, Ukraine). Shikdchenko also provided a picture-perfect corner kick to Hunter Fuss (SO/Joliet, Ill.), who found the back of the net for the second time this season. The two assists were the third and fourth for Shkidchenko this year.
 

Despite the two-goal advantage, USF continued to push the pace the rest of the half with Mizyed authoring his second goal at the 18-minute mark. For the half, the Saints outshot Saint Xavier 12-1 with eight of those attempts being on goal.
 

Head coach Dan Cross' team was able to hold the lead for much of the second half, but Saint Xavier (5-2, 5-2) did make things interesting late. Michael Porco ruined the shutout bid in the 78th minute. Six minutes later, SXU had the goal deficit down to one. All eight of the Cougars' second half shots came in the final 30 minutes of the match.
 

Shkidchenko stopped the SXU momentum with an insurance goal at the 87th minute. 
 

Goalkeeper Carlos Ferrer Coto (SR/La Fresneda, Spain) stopped four of six shots on goal in the win. 
 

USF returns to ATI Field at Joliet Memorial Stadium on Saturday (March 27) to take on Trinity International University. Kickoff for the CCAC match is 5:30 pm.