JOLIET, Ill. --- Playing at home for the first time in 27 days, the University of St. Francis men's soccer team made the most of it with a 3-0 shutout of Indiana University Northwest in its Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference opener on Saturday afternoon.

The Saints (3-2-1, 1-0 CCAC) are now 2-0 on the new turf of Busey Bank Field at Joliet Memorial Stadium.

Santos Contreras led the way for the Saints with a goal and an assist, but it was the strong play of USF's defense that carried the day.  USF's back line of Edward Luna, Daniel Simon, Andres Villa and Leonardo Haro held Indiana Northwest (3-4, 0-3) to just six total shots with only one being on goal.

That led to Carson Heglund being credited with his second shutout of the season.

The only goal USF would need on Saturday came from Jesus Flores, who connected with Contreras 22 minutes into the contest.  It was Flores' first collegiate goal.  Seven minutes later, Ander Santamarta found the back of the net on a feed from Sergio Fernandez-Arango.

The Saints picked up their finally tally in the closing five minutes when William Martinez hit Contreras for his team-leading fifth goal of the season.

While Indiana Northwest managed just the six shots, head coach Dan Cross' club produced 35 with 13 being on goal, both of which were season-high marks.

Notes: With his goal and assist on Saturday, Contreras now has 12 points on the season (5 goals, 2 assists) to lead the team.  Fernandez-Arango is second with 8 points after registering his second assist in the win … The goal by Santamarta was his third of the campaign … Heglund's shutout was the fifth of his career … The six total shots and one on goal was the lowest output of the season by a St. Francis opponent … On the other hand, USF's 35 total shots more than doubled its previous season high … The Saints are home again on Wednesday when they take on Holy Cross College in a league contest.      

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