JOLIET, Ill. --- The University of St. Francis men's soccer team made for a victorious home opener by securing a 2-1 victory over Concordia University Chicago on Saturday afternoon on Busey Bank Field at Joliet Memorial Stadium.

The 2-1 win was the second by that score on the week and kept the Fighting Saints' perfect record intact at 3-0 in one-goal decisions on the season.  Overall, USF is 4-1.

First Half
Concordia (0-2) controlled much of the first half, taking nine of the first shots of the match and 11 of the first 13.  Only two were on goal, however, and Fede Figueredo was there to stop each of them.  USF did not record a shot on goal until 27 minutes into the contest when Ander Santamarta took a corner kick from Edward Luna and drilled it into the far left corner of the goal on a bicycle kick.  After taking its first nine shots in the opening 13 minutes, Concordia did not attempt a shot in the closing 20 minutes of the half.  USF managed five of its seven first-half shots during that span of time, including all three of its shots on goal.  For Santamarta, his score was his second goal of the season.

Second Half
Concordia never let up on its attacking style after the break, authoring each of the first six shots in the closing 45 minutes of play, the final of which resulted in a top-level save by Figueredo.  Shortly thereafter, Luna played the key role again in the Saints' second goal.  Following his steal of a ball deep in St. Francis territory, Luna launched a 45-yard kick to lead Tony Njia to his second goal of the season.  Njia got past both the defender and the Concordia goalkeeper, who came far out of the goal in attempting to re-direct Luna's kick.  Instead, Njia kicked the ball into the left corner of the net from 25 yards out to put the Saints up 2-0 at the 53-minute mark.  Neither team would get a shot off over the next 11 minutes until Spencer Nicholson's attempt deflected off both Figueredo and another St. Francis defender to sneak into the goal at 64:13 and cut Concordia's deficit in half.  An offsides call  in the 70th minute denied the Saints of going up 3-1 and then they had to overcome one final late charge by the Cougars.  The guests had a pair of shots on goal in the closing three minutes with the first one resulting in another high-pressure save by Figueredo off a header attempt.

Concordia wound up more than doubling up on the Saints in total shot attempts, 25-11, including 14-4 in the closing half, but Figueredo was there to save the day.  The junior transfer would make a season-high seven saves on the afternoon, five of which came after the intermission.

Next Match
The Saints have the next two weeks off before opening Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference play against Trinity Christian College on Sept. 21.  Match time is slated for 2:30 pm.

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