BELMONT, Calif. — The San Francisco State men's soccer team dropped its season opener, 2-1, at Notre Dame de Namur on Friday afternoon.
The Gators (0-1) were outshot 15-9 by NDNU (1-0), including 10-3 in the first half, though the two teams went into intermission knotted at one apiece. A physical match throughout, the two teams combined for nine cards. Jose Torres picked up a pair of yellows in the second half, which resulted in a red card in the 86th minute, meaning he'll have to miss the Gators' next match.
The Gators found themselves playing from behind early. NDNU's Tony Andoyan won a ball and fed Josh Santillan, who fired a shot from 20 yards that tucked inside the left post. SF State found an answer less than two minutes later when
Adrian Medina connected with
Seiya Otsuka, who scored the equalizer from 30 yards out. Goalkeeper
Peter Swinkels kept the score even with five first-half saves and finished the day with seven.
A defensive lapse in the 53rd minute proved costly for the Gators. After controlling the ball in the middle of the field, Giovanni Rodriguez played a thru ball to Andoyan. From there, Andoyan dribbled into the box and scored past a charging Swinkels. The Gators' only other shot on goal came in the 64th minute but Gustav Fink's shot to the bottom left was saved by Israel Mendoza.
The Gators continue their tour of Bay Area PacWest opponents on Thursday, November 12 when the Gators take on Holy Names. That match is slated to start at 5 p.m. and will be played at Pioneer Stadium on Cal State East Bay's campus in Hayward. Updates will be available at
sfstategators.com and on Twitter at
@sfstate_msoc.
