JOLIET, Ill. -- The University of St. Francis men's soccer team came up short in a 1-0 loss to Viterbo University (Wis.) on Tuesday night. It marked just the second Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference loss of the season for the Fighting Saints and dropped their overall record to 3-4-6 on the year. In league play, the team fell to 1-2-4. Before the matchup against the V-Hawks, St. Francis honored its 14 seniors -
Christian Lechuga,
Max Gaudry,
Benisio Gamino,
Adrian Gonzalez Martin,
Miguel Zavala,
Mason Mroz,
Aaron Razo,
Jonathan Mendez,
Rogelio Valles,
Tristan Dean,
Elio Di Gennaro,
Ethan Cooksey,
Jules Escavy and
Mateo Del Bosque.
First Half
Viterbo (5-6-3, 4-1-1 CCAC) held a slight advantage over the Saints in the first 45 minutes of play, taking 11 shots compared to USF's eight. In the 30th minute, the Saints saw their best opportunity of the half to score after back-to-back shots nearly resulted in a goal when a secondary shot was saved by VU goalkeeper Alexis Da Ponte. After the miss, the two teams were able to create eight more shot attempts over the remainder of the half, but one save from USF starting keeper
Elio Di Gennaro allowed the 0-0 deadlock to hold through the halftime break.
Second Half
The second half proved to be full of physical play as five yellow cards and 20 fouls were called after the break. Viterbo's offensive pace increased as each minute went by with the V-Hawks' front line putting additional pressure on the Saints' defense. After Viterbo opened the stanza with a shot just 58 seconds into the frame, the V-Hawks followed that up with five consecutive tries over the next 10 minutes, highlighted with a defensive save from USF defender
Jack Browne in the 55th minute. The denial looked to swing the momentum back in USF's favor with the Saints' offense rattling off the frame's next three shots, but it could not connect on a go-ahead goal to take the lead. Then in the 89th minute with just 32 seconds remaining on the clock, the V-Hawks were able to muster the game's only score after a muffed punt from Di Gennaro ricocheted of the back of a Viterbo striker just outside the penalty box straight to VU's Fernando Celemin who took advantage of the mistake by kicking the ball into USF's open net and denying the Saints of a draw.
St. Francis took 16 shots as a team in the loss, falling short to Viterbo's 25 attempts. In goal for USF, Di Gennaro made five saves, while allowing the one score.
Up Next
Due to the cancellation of the Calumet College of St. Joseph (Ind.) men's varsity soccer season, the match versus the Crimson Wave which was originally scheduled for Wednesday, Oct. 28 has been called off. No forfeit will be awarded. The Saints must now wait to see if they will be eligible to extend their season into the postseason after the completion of the remainder of the league's regular season matches. St. Francis currently sits in fifth place in the CCAC standings with seven points.
You can keep up with everything happening around USF Athletics on X @USFSaints.
