CROWN POINT, Ind. -- The University of St. Francis men's soccer team put together a solid first half, but could not hold on as Governors State University defeated the Fighting Saints by a score of 4-1 in Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference action on Tuesday night.  The loss drops USF's record to 4-4-2 overall and 0-3-2 in league play.

First Half
Governors State got the offense started in the first half, out-shooting the Saints 14-1 over the first 25 minutes of play.  St. Francis was able to rattle off two shots in the 27th minute of play, but was unsuccessful in its attempts to take the early lead.  GSU eventually broke the scoreless deadlock behind the effort of Joan Gallardo, who put a shot past USF keeper Fede Figueredo at the 40:39 mark.  Both teams continued to work the ball the remainder of the half with three separate Saints taking their shots at the GSU net only to come up empty.  That enabled the hosts to go into the break with the 1-0 advantage. 

Second Half
The one-score lead lasted for eight minutes after the break before GSU's John Gonzalez upped the Jaguars' lead to 2-0 with his goal.  Nonetheless, the Saints continued to apply their aggressive pressure and were able to produce their first goal of the match in the 61st minute.  Pablo Alvarez was credited with the goal on an assist from Victor Sellu,to cut the GSU lead in half at 2-1.  USF struggled to find a groove the remainder of the match, however, as Governors State controlled possession the majority of the remaining 29 minutes.  At the 70:26 and 71:05 marks, the Jaguars added to their stat line, scoring two goals in under a minute to widen their lead to 4-1. The Saints had a good look late with Santos Contreras making a solid attempt on goal, but the shot would fall short with a save from the GSU goaltender to secure the three-goal win.

The Jaguars overpowered the Saints in shot attempts on the night, authoring 34 compared to USF's nine.  Contreras tallied the most tries for St. Francis with three, while Tony Njia recorded two.  Figueredo played the full 90 minutes in goal, making four saves.

Up Next
St. Francis will return to action on Saturday (Oct. 12) when the Saints travel to Chicago to face-off against conference foe Saint Xavier University.  The match will begin at 7:30 pm at Deaton Field.

You can keep up with everything happening around USF Athletics on X @USFSaints.