SAN RAFAEL, Calif. – Dominican men's soccer got off to a strong start to conference play as it topped Hawai'i Pacific 2-0 Monday afternoon at Kennelly Field. 

The Penguins (3-3-1, 1-0-0 PacWest) and the Sharks (1-5-2, 0-1-0 PacWest) played a physical game with 36 fouls combined. Shots were also nearly even with Dominican holding a two shot advantage with shots on goal, but the real difference came down to corner kicks where the Penguins had four while not conceding a single corner to HPU.

Possession was hard to come by early in the game and the Sharks had the first opportunity to get on the board as some good passing allowed Leandro Weingartner to loose a shot towards the bottom left corner but Alejandro Reyes pushed the shot wide. Yuya Yamamoto then had an opportunity off the rebound but his shot hooked left and out of play to keep the match tied in the 24th minute. 

After Dominican earned its second corner of the half, Chris Barrios place a ball perfectly into the middle of the box and Brandon Selway headed the ball with pace over the keepers hands and under the crossbar for the 1-0 lead in the 40th minute. Weingartner again found himself in a dangerous position in the 42nd minute, but he pulled his shot to the left and the Penguins entered the half in the lead.

The second half started in much the same manner as the first with physical play and few true scoring opportunities. In the 65th minute, coach David Frank made a change in his lineup sticking Diego Grande up top and the results were near instantaneous. Grande timed a run perfectly on a ball over the top finding himself one-on-one with the keeper in the 71st minute and he slotted home a left footed shot to the far post for the 2-0 lead. Minutes later a beautiful cross from Lex Bernier made its way into the middle of the box where Grande was again free but he narrowly missed on the header attempt and the ball went harmlessly out of bounds for a goal kick. 

Chris Mendez-Lemus made an impressive move on the right wing and worked his way inside the 18-yard box before loosing a shot that forced a spectacular save from Connor Margo to keep the Sharks within striking distance in the 76th minute. Jude Boyd recorded the last shot on frame for HPU in the 84th minute as Reyes calmly collected the ball and Dominican maintained a strong possession the rest of the way to preserve the shutout.

The Penguins will return to the pitch Thursday to face the University of Hawai'i at Hilo with kickoff set for noon PDT at Kennelly Field.