NOTRE DAME, Ind. --- The University of St. Francis men's soccer team ran its winning streak to five matches in a row Wednesday afternoon when the Fighting Saints built a 3-0 lead at the start and then held on for a 3-2 Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference victory over Holy Cross College (Ind.).  The winning streak is the longest in 23 years dating back to the 2000 season.

Sergio Fernandez-Arango and Pablo Rubio Guerra also kept their personal scoring streaks alive with Fernandez-Arango up to five games with his two goals and Rubio Guerra at four with his tally.  The former got the scoring started with his penalty kick at 21:30.  He also scored the eventual game-winning goal just two minutes into the second half on a feed from Anthony Derka to put the Saints up 3-0.

Sandwiched in between, Rubio Guerra authored his fifth goal of the campaign, beating the intermission horn by 90 seconds to send USF (5-2, 2-0 CCAC) into the break with a 2-0 lead.  Santos Contreras was credited with the assist on the scoring play.

After putting up just two shots on goal in the opening half, Holy Cross (3-5-1, 1-1) went on the offensive in the closing 45 minutes.  The hosts broke up the unanswered string of goals by USF on their first shot of the second half at 52:26, but were denied each of the next four times by St. Francis goalkeeper Erick Murillo.

Holy Cross then made things interesting when it cut the deficit to one goal in the 75th minute. HCC would get four more shots off over the final 15 minutes, however none were on goal.

Holy Cross finished the contest with 23 total shots, including 14 in the second half, with USF putting up 12 shots, seven of which were on goal.  Murillo finished his day with six saves.

Notes: The 2000 squad closed out its regular-season with the five straight victories before falling in the CCAC Post-Season Tournament.  It then went on to split two games in the NAIA Region VII Tournament to finish 13-8-2 … The multi-goal game for Fernandez-Arango was the fifth of his career.  He now leads the team with seven goals and 18 total points … Rubio Guerra, who missed all of last year, tied his career high in goals with his fifth score on Wednesday … Contreras' assist was his second of the campaign … Derka gained his first point of the season with his assist … Holy Cross' 23 total shots were the second-most attempted by a St. Francis opponent this season … Murillo recorded his second-most saves in the contest … The Saints are home Saturday to face Judson University in another CCAC matchup.        

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