JOLIET, Ill. --- The University of St. Francis men's soccer team earned an important point in the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference standings by gaining a 3-3 tie with Viterbo University in the regular-season home finale on Saturday afternoon at Joliet Memorial Stadium.  Now all the Fighting Saints need is a victory to close out season next Saturday to punch their ticket to the league tournament.

St. Francis (7-6-2, 4-4-2 CCAC) currently sits tied for sixth place with Holy Cross College heading into the final week of the regular season.  A win versus Calumet College of St. Joseph on Saturday would mean no less than an eighth-place finish in the conference standings for the Saints with the top eight teams advancing to the single-elimination tournament.

Saturday's contest was a see-saw affair with both teams having one-goal leads to go along with three ties.

Viterbo, vying for a spot of its own in the upcoming tournament, struck first on the first of three goals by Nicolas Lopez just 51 seconds into the contest following a stolen pass.

The Saints got things back even when Pablo Rubio Guerra connected from 18 yards out on a free kick in the 15th minute.  Eighteen minutes later, Diego Cortes found an open Sergio Fernandez-Arango along the left side to push USF in front for the first time on the afternoon.

Lopez then struck again,  this time with his third penalty-kick goal of the season at 41:50 to send the two teams into the break tied at two-all.

Despite facing an 18 mile-per-hour wind at its face in the second half, USF was not swayed and regained a 3-2 edge when Ander Santamarta stole a Viterbo pass around midfield and dished the ball off to Jose Perez.  The latter then got a shot past V-Hawk goalkeeper Ernesto Ascenzo that trickled into the net in the 53rd minute.

Nine minutes later, Viterbo (6-4-6, 3-3-3) used the wind to its advantage when Ascenzo kicked the ball nearly the length of the field to find Lopez, who deposited his third shot into the net.

Neither team would manage a shot on goal in the closing 28 minutes with Viterbo putting up four shots and USF two.  For the match, St. Francis held advantages in both total shots (17-13) and shots on goal (7-4).

Notes: The USF soccer program took time out before the game to honor its six seniors on Senior Day.  Those recognized were Marco Calixto, Santos Contreras, Cortes, Diego Hernandez, William Martinez and Fabian Ulloa … With his first-half goal, Rubio Guerra has now scored in ten of USF's last 12 matches.  His league-leading 13th tally of the season also kept him one goal ahead of Lopez, who went from nine goals before the start of play on Saturday to 12 by day's end … With Fernandez-Arango's eighth goal of the year, the Saints now boast two of the top three scorers in the league with Rubio Guerra's 31 points and Fernandez-Arango's 22.  Lopez sits right in between with 25 … Fernandez-Arango is also tied for the No. 3 spot in the CCAC with his eight goals … Perez's goal was his fourth of the campaign, while Cortes and Santamarta each supplied their second assists … The contest was the second straight three-goal game for USF … The Saints' matchup with Calumet St. Joseph is set for 12 pm next Saturday.      
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