NOTRE DAME, Ind. --
Elio Di Gennaro authored seven saves, but it was not enough as Holy Cross College (Ind.) scored once to claim a 1-0 victory over University of St. Francis in the quarterfinal round of the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference Men's Soccer Tournament on Tuesday.
First Half
In the first stanza, Holy Cross (10-2-6) set the tone with its offensive pressure, but the Fighting Saints' defense remained steady throughout the entirety of the half. The hosts were able to target St. Francis' goal five times in the period off of 10 shots with
Elio Di Gennaro shutting the door on each of those attempts. Offensively for USF,
Adrian Gonzalez Martin recorded St. Francis' only shot of the period, which resulted in a HCC defensive save allowing the game to remain scoreless heading into the intermission.
Second Half
Holy Cross continued its heavy offensive strategy into the second half with two shot attempts before HCC took advantage of a gap in the attacking field and registered the only goal of the match in the 61st minute. The final 29 minutes saw a lot of action in the middle of the field, but in the 82nd minute,
Benisio Gamino was able to break free and register an open look on goal, but the attempt was thawarted by HCC's keeper Sam Negus, however, which secured the win for the hosts with a final score of 1-0.
Holy Cross finished the match outshooting the Fighting Saints 20-6 with six corner kicks compared to USF's four. In between the pipes, Di Gennaro led both goalkeepers with seven saves.
Gamino finished the season as the Fighting Saints sole leader in two offensive categories: goals (4) and total points (9). He shared the game-winning goals (1) lead with
Rogelio Valles and
Gabriel Estrella, while
Max Gaudry concluded his senior campaign ranking first on the team in total shots (24) and assists (2) with
Ted Barker (2).
The Saints finished the season with a final overall record of 3-5-6.
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