JOLIET, Ill. -- The University of St. Francis men's soccer team led Indiana University Northwest by a 2-0 margin late in the second half, but a disastrous final 18 minutes saw the Saints walk away with a 3-3 draw on Saturday afternoon after allowing three goals to the RedHawks. In a Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference matchup between the two teams, the tie moves the Fighting Saints to 2-2-3 overall and 0-0-1 in CCAC action on the season.
First Half
St. Francis won possession early in the match and used its speed to its advantage as the hosts put up the first goal of the game in less than a minute of play. After USF took possession on its own defensive half and advanced it up,
Benisio Gamino found himself open to receive a cross from
Ted Barker, and then proceeded to score from nine yards out in front of the net to give the Saints a 1-0 lead. USF would continue to press and registered four more shots before the 36th minute when
Juan Jimenez joined Gamino in the scoring column with an assist from
Max Gaudry to mark the score at 2-0. Solid defense was then displayed on both ends throughout the remainder of the half, resulting in the score staying locked at 2-0 at the break.
Second Half
After halftime, the RedHawks came out quickly and authored five of the second frame's first six shot attempts before driving home their first goal in the 72nd minute. Indiana Northwest continued to apply offensive pressure and tied the game at 2-2 just six minutes later, sneaking a shot past USF keeper
Logan LaFrance. The Saints regrouped to take a 3-2 lead at 85:25 after a free kick deflected off an IUN defender and straight to
Rogelio Valles for his first goal of the season. St. Francis' defense attempted to hold off the RedHawks for the final four and a half minutes, but with just 2:11 to play, the guests would capitalize on one last scoring opportunity in front of the USF net to tie the match at the eventual 3-3 score.
For the game, St. Francis took 14 shots and was led by Gamino, who had four attempts with two on goal. Valles scored on his only shot attempt, and Jimenez produced his second goal of the season while taking a total of two shots in the draw. In the net, LaFrance made three saves, denying one-fifth of Indiana Northwest's shots (15).
Up Next
St. Francis will be back on the road Wednesday afternoon (Sept. 30) in Notre Dame, Ind. to take on Holy Cross College (Ind.) at 6 pm CST.
You can keep up with everything happening around USF Athletics on X @USFSaints.
