JOLIET, Ill. --- The University of St. Francis men's soccer team christened the new turf at Busey Bank Field at Joliet Memorial Stadium in a big way, putting up five first-half goals en route to a dominating 6-1 performance over Cleary University (Mich.) on Sunday afternoon.  Santos Contreras and Sergio Fernandez-Arango each scored a pair of goals with the latter also contributing an assist.

The contest was the first of the season for the Saints and the first of any team to host a regular-season game on the new turf, which was completed just 11 days earlier.

After Fernandez-Arango's first goal seven minutes into the contest, head coach Dan Cross' club tallied its other four first-half goals in an 11-minute, 18-second span beginning at 21:46.  Contreras started the run on a penalty kick with Ander Santamarta following three minutes later off a pass from Fernandez-Arango to put the hosts up 3-0.

Contreras delivered his second unassisted goal two-thirds of the way into the first half with another short three-minute span separating the second quick two-goal burst.  The latter strike came from Edward Luna on an assist from Diego Cortes.

Cleary (0-1-1) broke the Saints' unanswered scoring run in the 36th minute with the second of only three shots on goal for the day by the Cougars.  The only scoring in the second half was Fernandez-Arango's second strike off a feed from newcomer Cameron Schroder.

Carson Heglund registered the win in the net, stopping two of the three shots on goal registered by Cleary.

Other Notes: Santamarta's goal was his first in a St. Francis uniform as was Schroder's assist … The two-goal match as well as the five-point afternoon for Fernandez-Arango marked his second such performance as a Saint.  He accomplished the feat the first time on Sept. 29, 2021 against Governors State … Coming into the game, Contreras had authored just one goal and three assists in his first two season at USF … The contest was the only one of five non-conference affairs that will be played at home by the Saints this fall.  They head to La Crosse, Wis. next weekend for the Viterbo University (Wis.) Tournament, where they will go up against University of Jamestown (ND) on Friday and host Viterbo on Saturday.

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