BOURBONNAIS, Ill. -- The University of St. Francis men's soccer team suffered a discouraging setback on Saturday afternoon, losing 7-0 to NAIA No. 1-ranked Olivet Nazarene University in Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference action. The loss drops the Fighting Saints to 3-3-6 overall and 1-1-4 in league play.
First Half
After heavy possession and 12 shot attempts by Olivet Nazarene (9-0-2, 4-0-0 CCAC) to start the half, the Tigers were finally able to get on the board with a successful penalty kick after an ill-timed foul by USF in the box. St. Francis responded by countering the ONU front line attack with aggressive defense which resulted in the Saint secondary blocking a total of seven Tiger shots in the period and keeping the score locked in at 1-0 heading into the break.
Second Half
Olivet Nazarene outshot St. Francis 22-1 in the second half and connected for six goals. The first four were scored between the 60th and 70th minutes before the Tigers tacked on two more scores in the remaining 20 minutes to hand the Saints the 7-0 loss.
Twp St. Francis players authored a combined three shots (one on target) over the two halves with
Max Gaudry being the lone Saint able to attempt two shots. In the net,
Elio Di Gennaro made 13 stops and endured 20 shots in his direction, with Olivet Nazarene registering 42 total shots during the 90 minutes. ONU's Jacob Robinson notched the shutout by recording the one save.
Up Next
The Saints are back in action on Tuesday, Oct. 20 with a home matchup against Viterbo University (Wis.). Senior Day festivities will occur before the 7 pm scheduled kickoff at Joliet Memorial Stadium.
You can keep up with everything happening around USF Athletics on X @USFSaints.
