SAN RAFAEL, Calif. – Senior forward
Wilson Briggs recorded a hat trick to lead Dominican men's soccer to a 3-0 victory Sunday over Hawai'i Pacific at Kennelly Field.
It was the third time this season Briggs has recorded a multi-goal game as he ran his season total to 11, trailing
Pedro Guevara by one goal for the Penguins' (5-4-2, 2-1-1 PacWest) single-season record. Senior goalkeeper
William Finnie (3-2-2) recorded his second consecutive shutout with eight saves in the match.
Jair Espinoza led the Sharks (3-5-0, 1-2-0 PacWest) with four shots and one on goal. The game was physical as the teams combined for seven yellow cards and a red.
Three minutes in,
Matt Albert launched a ball behind the backline of HPU to Briggs and Briggs beat the keeper far post to open the scoring.
Briggs again made his way behind the defense three minutes later and was taken down just outside the box to set up a dangerous free kick, but Chandler Schur made the save on
Brendan Adame's free kick for the Sharks.
Briggs added to the lead in the 27th minute as
Eddie Silverbush played him behind the defense once again and Briggs put it to the bottom-left corner of the goal for the 2-0 lead.
In the 30th minute, Dylan Finnie brought a ball up through the middle of the field and played it to
Greg Natt on the left flank, Natt then centered the ball to Briggs right in front of the keeper for the hat trick as the Penguins made it 3-0.
HPU had several chances on free kicks just outside the box, but were unable to threaten Finnie in the net. As the clock ran out on the first half,
Kieran Vrklan was handed a red card to give the Sharks a man advantage heading to the second half.
Tom Karshuening had a chance to earn a goal back for HPU in the 56th minute, but Finnie made a diving save to his right and punched it out for Dominican. The Penguins dropped into a defensive formation playing a man down and Finnie made two more saves to keep the Sharks off the board.
Luke Raley was able to find some room on the attacking third and was tripped up just outside the box to set up another scoring chance for Dominican. Raley put his shot over the wall and it dipped toward the net, but Schur was there to punch it over the crossbar.
The Penguins will head to Southern California next week to face Azusa Pacific on Thursday at 5 p.m. PDT at the Cougar Soccer Complex. Live stats and video will be available online.
