SAN RAFAEL, Calif. – Dominican men's soccer ended its conference season with a 2-1 win Thursday morning over Holy Names at Kennelly Field.

Freshman goalkeeper Alejandro Reyes collected five saves for the Penguins (2-3-1) letting only a penalty kick in the first half get by him. Senior forward Ivan Galvan and freshman forward Joe Blakely each tallied goals for Dominican, while Joel Rosales netted the Hawks (1-4-0) lone goal.

Sloppy defensive play in the early minutes of the game gave HNU several opportunities at the goal with Rosales and Edwin Hernandez getting off quality shots in the first five minutes of the game, but neither found the back netting. The Hawks eventually found the breakthrough goal in the 20th minute as a foul in the box set Rosales up with the penalty kick as he sent the ball into the right side of the goal for the 1-0 lead. 

The Penguins took the goal as a wakeup call and began to found more success going forward over the final 25 minutes of the half. Junior forward Kieran Vrklan earned a corner kick and sent a long ball to Blakely in the middle of the box for a right-footed shot that went into the top of the goal to level the game before halftime.

"When the cross came I saw the space in front of the goal, so I attacked the space quickly and was able to get my foot across my body to send the ball into the top corner," Blakely said. "Coming back from an injury and going through COVID, then not playing the first four games of our season was tough, so getting that goal was a weight lifted off my should  — I'm glad to be back scoring goals again."

The two teams traded shots to start the second half but neither team was able to put one on frame in the first 20 minutes. A bad pass back by the HNU defense sent the ball right to Galvan who recognized the keeper was out of his net and chipped the ball over his head from 25-yards out to take the 2-1 lead in the 67th minute.

Reyes closed out the game making a diving save on a header in the 72nd minute with two more saves in the 81st minute to keep his team in the lead. Dominican controlled possession for the final nine minutes of the game to take home the victory.

"It was one of those saves that was a reaction," Reyes said. "I was following the ball across when he hit the first time and I reacted well before also being able to reach the second one. It helped the team, that's what matters."