Nov. 6, 2009

Final Stats

(Santa Clara, CA) - San Francisco battled but dropped a tough 1-0 decision to ancient Bay Area rival Santa Clara Friday night at Buck Shaw Stadium in West Coast Conference contest televised live by Fox Soccer Channel. The Dons (6-9-1, 2-6-0 WCC) could not complete the rare season series sweep against the Broncos (5-9-4, 3-5-2 WCC).

USF held a 12-9 shot edge, but Santa Clara's third shot of the contest proved decisive. Erik Hurtado's sixth goal of the season in the 35th minute was the difference for the Broncos. Hurtado found the back of the net off a nice cross on a re-start and Santa Clara's bend but don't break defense didn't holding on for the shutout win.

Senior All-American Conor Chinn fired a match-high seven shots, including three on target, while five other Dons managed one apiece. Freshman goalkeeper Brendan Roslund enjoyed a strong match between the pipes for the Dons and made a pair of saves. Naushad Godrej collected the shutout win for Santa Clara and made three saves in the process.

"It's disappointing," USF head coach Erik Visser said. "After Sunday's game where we played with two strikers and created a lot of opportunities to today where we were not able to create those kinds of opportunities is tough. We lacked in some flank play with our forwards and it was disappointing that we were not able to create more opportunities. On the day we probably had more possession of the game. We had more control of the game but when it came down to it they scored on a re-start."

USF returns to action Sunday night when it hosts Bay Area rival Saint Mary's in the 2009 regular season home finale. Match time against the well-rested Gaels, who have enjoyed a full week to prepare for the contest, is set for 7:00 PM under the lights at Negoesco Stadium. The Dons will pay tribute to their seniors in a special pre-match ceremony starting at approximately 6:45 PM.