SAN RAFAEL, Calif. – Dominican Men's Soccer defeated UC Santa Cruz 2-1 in the third game of its five-game homestand Wednesday afternoon at Kennelly Field.
Luke Raley scored his third goal of the season, while
Cameron Baca scored his first career goal to help the Penguins (3-2-0) build a multi-goal lead on UC Santa Cruz (1-4-0).
William Finnie held off the Banana Slugs in the goal with five saves in his first career start for Dominican.
UCSC goalkeeper Zachary Lamb kept the Penguins ended with four saves to his record to 1-1 on the year.
The Penguins attacked the net early in the first half.
Wilson Briggs had an early chance with a strong header, but Lamb was in the right spot to make the save. With Lamb out of his net,
Diego Vasquez tried to open the scoring with a long attempt on the open net but his shot went wide. In the 40th minute,
Matt Case threw a ball in from deep in the attacking third and the ball bounced to the foot of Baca, who beat his defender and found the back of the net to give the Penguins a 1-0 advantage at the half.
The Penguins began the second half with an offensive push to put UCSC's defense on their heels early, but the Banana Slugs were effective in finding counters and drawing fouls.
Logan Siemers fouled a UCSC forward at the top of the box to set up a dangerous free kick for a chance to even the score, but the shot sailed high of the crossbar.
In the 61st minute, Raley took a ball around several Banana Slugs at the top of the box to find some space for a shot that was out of the reach of Lamb's diving attempt for the 2-0 lead. Despite the deficit, UCSC continued to press the Penguins backline in the closing minutes. Ari Statler was able to close the gap to one in the 88th minute with a diving header right in front of the net, but it was too late to mount the comeback as the Penguins held on for the victory.
Dominican will conclude its nonconference schedule Sunday at noon PDT against Concordia University Portland at Kennelly Field, as they celebrate Youth Soccer Day on the turf. Live video and stats will be available online.
