 |  |
USF Men's Soccer Deadlocks No. 25 Brown 1-1
Sept. 27, 2009
(San Francisco) - USF fought No. 25 Brown to a standstill, but settled for a 1-1 deadlock in non-conference action on a beautiful Sunday afternoon at Negoesco Stadium. The Dons (3-3-1) took a 1-0 lead deep into the second half, but the Bears (4-0-3) provided a late equalizer to force bonus soccer and remained unbeaten on the year.
Senior All-American Conor Chinn scored the go ahead goal in the 18th minute, splitting a pair of Brown defenders and then beat the Bear keeper to the far post. It was the fourth goal of the season for Chinn, who has tallied a goal in each of USF's last two matches.
From there, USF pressed the initiative the rest of the period and held a 6-2 shot advantage in the first 45 minutes. Brown's Rob Medairos was sent off in the 33rd minute, leaving the Bears with just 10 players until the 78th minute when Thomas McNamara was ejected, leaving just nine for the visitors.
Dylan Remick provided the equalizer for Brown in the 82nd minute rifling a ball home from point blank range during a melee in the USF box. San Francisco held a 12-8 shot edge for the match, but the Bears attempted nine corner kicks to just two for the Dons. Chinn attempted a match-high six shots, four of them on frame.
"It is a disappointing tie for us," USF head coach Erik Visser said. "We started out very strong and played very well the first half, but the momentum strangely shifted for Brown when they had players ejected and we stopped playing both times. It was tough, especially after the strong start and the good goal from Chinn. We had plenty of opportunities to walk away with the win. I give Brown a tremendous amount of credit. They were on the road on the last day of a road trip and they bounced back on a warm day and got a result."
Despite a two-man advantage San Francisco could not capitalize against a staunch Brown defense led by goalkeeper Paul Grandstrand (4-0-3), who recorded six saves on the afternoon. Senior goalkeeper Franco Carotenuto (1-1-1) was injured in the 65th minute after making three saves and gave way to freshman Brendan Roslund, who collected a pair of saves in 45 minutes of action.
"We are aware now of where we're at and this week we need to prepare very hard to compete effectively in the conference which is going to be stronger from top to bottom than it has for quite some time," Visser said.
USF opens West Coast Conference play on the road next week in Southern California, beginning Friday, October 2 at Loyola Marymount. Match time against the Lions is set for 2:00 PM on Sullivan Field.
NOTES: It was the third straight overtime match for the Dons (1-1-1) and the second consecutive match to go the distance... USF took a 2-1 double overtime victory against San Jose State Friday at Negoesco Stadium... It was the second straight overtime match for Brown after a 1-1 draw at Santa Clara Friday... With the tie, the Dons lead the all-time series 3-2-1 since 1973.
