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Bulldogs Drop WCC Men's Soccer Match 1-0 To San Francisco
Oct. 3, 2008
SPOKANE, Wash. - The University of San Francisco's Conor Chinn scored his third goal of the season at 30:04 and it stood up as the Dons took a 1-0 victory over Gonzaga University Friday in a West Coast Conference men's soccer match at Gonzaga Soccer Field. There was some question as to whether the ball crossed the line. With Chinn breaking in straightaway, Gonzaga (4-4-1; 1-1-0) keeper Scott Barnum came out to meet the play. Chinn tried to split a pair of Gonzaga defenders and he got just enough of a foot on the ball to slip it slowly toward the goal. Following a small collision both defenders raced toward the goal and tried to flip the ball backwards, but the linesman ruled the ball had crossed the goal line for the score. "It was close," Gonzaga head coach Einar Thorarinsson said. "The players felt the ball didn't cross the line." But Thorarinsson hadn't had a chance to watch the game film. Thorarinsson also said "they (USF) wanted it more. We never really got our offense into sync until the end of the match." The Bulldogs held a 9-6 shots advantage, including 5-1 in the second half. The best chance came out of a melee in front of the goal, Philippe Garre missing a bicycle kick from about 8 yards that sailed high in the 84th minute. Earlier in the half Tim Muravez had a header off a free kick deflect off a defender from the near left post resulting in a corner kick. Gonzaga had four corner kicks in the second half, two of them in the final seven minutes, but could not generate the offense for the equalizer. The Dons (2-5-1; 1-0-0) had an excellent opportunity to get the insurance goal, Chinn breaking in alone down the right wing and instead of shooting he crossed to Jonathan McMullen at the top of the 18 who shot high in the 86th minute.
Each team had solid chances in the opening half. Jonathan Levi had a free kick from 30 yards the Barnum deflected over the goal on the high, hard kick that came at 7:11. Garre had a shot from the top left of the 6 that skipped past the far post at 22:43. The Bulldogs had a couple of scary moments when keeper Scott Barnum, took a head-first tumble over a USF player when Barnum ranged out to play a ball, and Collin Harrison suffered a bump on the head when he collided with teammate Tim Muravez in the 87th minute. Harrison went to the bench for the remainder of the match and said he was okay following the match. Gonzaga remains home Sunday to face defending WCC champion Santa Clara University at 2 p.m. |
