SAN FRANCISCO – Dominican men's soccer capped off its best start in its NCAA Division II era with a 2-1 victory Monday afternoon over San Francisco State at Cox Stadium.

The Gators won the shots battle with a 12-8 advantage on the day, but the Penguins put quality over quantity holding the 5-4 edge in shots on frame. Senior midfielder Roberto Garcia recorded his second goal of the year and added an assist for Dominican, while freshman defender Diego Grande had his first career goal and the game-winner in the 82nd minute.

After spending nearly 70 minutes locked in a 1-1 tie, Roberto Garcia took the ball and played it to Diego Grande near the penalty spot and he put it home for the 2-1 lead with just over seven minutes left in the game. The game got chippy late as the Gators' Danny Estrada was shown a yellow seconds later and Manell Kariuki was shown a yellow one minute later. 

Senior midfielder Cameron Baca then had to quick yellows in the final minute of the match as San Francisco State pushed for the equalizer and was sent off with five seconds remaining. Santiago Sarmiento took the final free kick which fell harmlessly into the waiting arms of senior keeper Ruben Raygoza.

Dominican got off to a quick start as Garcia put a direct free kick into the back netting 1:23 into the match for the early lead. The teams then traded possession for several minutes until Denis Vezina found Gustavo Ferrari on a set play for the equalizer in the 14th minute. 

The Gators controlled the momentum for the next 10 minutes with three shots and three corner kicks, but the Penguins responded pressing the action late as freshman midfielder Alexandre Bernier's shot was turned away in the 32nd minute and two minutes later had a blocked shot that ended up at the feet of junior defender Louie Galdamez but the follow-up shot went wide right. 

The Penguins will have over a week to prepare for its conference opener against the University of Hawai'i at Hilo at 3:30 p.m. PDT Sunday, October 10 at Kennelly Field.