PALOS HEIGHTS, Ill. -- The University of St. Francis men's soccer team suffered its third taste of defeat in Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference action on Wednesday with a 3-0 loss to Trinity Christian College. The Troll offense scored two goals in the first half and one in the second, blanking the Fighting Saints and pushing USF's overall record to 2-7-1 and 2-3-0 in league play.
First Half
Trinity Christian (4-5-3, 2-2-0 CCAC) came out firing with a heavy front-line attack in the first 45 minutes of play. The Trolls would see seven open opportunities in the Saints backfield throughout the first period, with three direct shots on goal, including their opening shot which connected for the first score of the game just three minutes into the contest. In the 32nd minute, TCC would capitalize again with its persistent offensive pressure with a successful shot that would result in its second goal of the day, extending the Trolls' lead to 2-0 at the half.
Second Half
After not recording a single shot in the first half, the second half saw USF attempt four of the first five shot attempts of the closing stanza. The Saints came close to cutting their deficit in half in the 56th minute after
Juan Jimenez broke free and fired a try past TCC keeper Samuel Negus. The ball would hit off the post, however, keeping the score locked at 2-0 in TCC's favor. After the close call, Trinity Christian would respond with six consecutive shots of their own in the following 12 minutes, with the last one sneaking past USF starting keeper
Elio Di Gennaro for the third TCC goal of the evening at the 68:46 mark. Needing to catch back up quickly, the Saints desperately tried to cut down their 0-3 deficit with two shot attempts during the last 22 minutes of play, but could not cash in on either try, finishing the game with a loss and a 3-0 final score.
The Saints took six total shots with two attempts coming on goal, while the Trolls shot 18 times having six of its tries being on-target. Jimenez took a team-high four shots, while
Benisio Gamino and
Samuel Arroyo each authored one apiece. Despite allowing the three goals, Di Gennaro picked up three saves in the contest, two of which came in the second half.
Next Game
The University of St. Francis men's soccer team will travel to Holy Cross College (Ind.) on Saturday, Oct. 11 to take on the HCC Saints. Kickoff is scheduled to commence at 6 pm CST.
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