HAYWARD, Calif. — The San Francisco State men's soccer team returned to its winning ways on Sunday afternoon with a 1-0 victory at Cal State East Bay.
San Francisco State (8-3-3/5-3-2 CCAA) has won four of its last five contests and have just two remaining before the first round of the CCAA Championships begin on October 30. Currently, the Gators are in fifth place. If that holds, the Gators would face the third-place team, which is currently Chico State, who they'll face in the regular-season finale. Cal State East Bay (3-9-1/1-6-1 CCAA) saw its losing streak slip to four matches.
The Pioneers attempted four shots and a corner kick before the Gators attempted their first shot in the 31st minute. That shot happened to be a free kick by senior captain Aydan Bower that ended up being the game-winner, his third of the season in that category. Michael Francisco's shot in the 34th minute was saved by
Peter Swinkels and the Pioneers' next shot went wide. The Gators nearly doubled the lead in the 37th minute but
Gustav Fink's shot hit the crossbar.
Brandon Brunac's shot in the 40th minute was saved and a header by CSUEB's Marco Campos at the end of the half went wide.
The Gators attempted five shots in the second half, the last three which were all saved. Cal State East Bay attempted six shots in the second half but the San Francisco State defense stood tall for the team's eighth shutout. San Francisco State is currently second in the CCAA with a .477 goals against average. Swinkels, who entered the week third in the nation in save percentage, now leads the CCAA with an .881 save percentage.
The Gators have just two regular season contests remaining. San Francisco State hosts Stanislaus State on Friday, October 19 at 12:30 p.m. and Chico State on Sunday, October 21 at 11:30 a.m. Live stats and video will be available at
sfstategators.com and in-game updates will be available on Twitter at
@sfstate_msoc.
