Box Score SAN RAFAEL, Calif. — Sophomore defender Cory Vanderpool scored in the first half and junior co-captain David Mendez tallied in the second half and that was enough on Monday as the Dominican University of California men's soccer team defeated Dixie State College 2-0 at Kennelly Field in the John F. Allen Athletics Complex.

Yet it was far from a routine win for the Penguins, though they avenged a bitter 1-0 double overtime Pacific West Conference loss to the Red Storm in Utah last year.

The Penguins (4-1-0/1-1-0), off to their best start in 16 years, missed several more chances to double the score and that made it harder on the weary Dominican defense against Dixie State (1-5-0/0-2-0) which launched 20 shots at Dominican sophomore goalkeeper Erik Anderson, causing him to make 10 saves.

“The first 20 minutes we controlled the game but [the final score] could have been more,” said Penguins Director of Soccer Jon Delano. “Basically, to sum it up, we didn't take advantage of the opportunities we had so we had to sweat it out.”

Notably, in the second half, senior Pedro Guevara had a penalty kick that bounced off the left post and sophomore Kolby Mitnick booted a shot wide left in a 1 v 1 encounter with Dixie State goalie Tyler Walters. Meanwhile, the back line of Dominican's young defense, namely Vanderpool, sophomore Fabian Valdez-Mendoza, junior Jordan Rode, and freshman Chris Sennes – who played 357 out of a possible 360 minutes on the new synthetic turf field on a sunny day – was put to a test. Midfielders Swap Mushiana and Sam Vella – “our engines,” Delano called them  – provided relief and reinforcement.

“The hard part for us is we're trying to get better and we're trying to mature and we show our youth sometimes and try to keep moving forward, forward, forward,” said Delano. “We feel we can score but, at the same time, we've got to manage the game and make sure we dictate the flow of the game.”

It flowed well at the start on Monday. The Penguins came out pressing and carried play for most of the first half. They finally scored after Rode and Mendez created a deep possession that led to a corner kick by Mushiana, one of seven corners by Dominican in the first half. Mushiana's bending corner was deflected by Walters, but it skimmed off the crossbar and caromed to Vanderpool, who quickly shot the ball into the net.

The Penguins had several other excellent scoring chances in the first half, thanks to swift passing. Mushiana twice set up Guevara , the first time Walters beat Guevara to the ball and the second time Guevara connected with Mitnick on a through ball but Walters made the save on Mitnick.

Dixie State shifted the momentum late in the first half, but Anderson was in the right place, especially after a giveaway  that resulted in a quick close-in shot by the Red Storm's Michael Ropelato that Anderson came out to save. Anderson came up with several other saves in the second half when Dixie State was in dangerous scoring positions.

“At the end of the day this is a 2-0 win and there are things we can fix but there are good things, too,” said Delano. “These moments right now in games like this are going to make them better in the future. But we've got to learn and understand that we've got to be sharper if we want to succeed at a higher level.”

The Penguins are off for until Saturday, Sept. 22, to play non-conference opponent Cal Maritime Academy. Kickoff is at 2:00 p.m. on Kennelly Field at the John F. Allen Athletics Complex. Live coverage will be available at www.dominicanathletics.com/live.