ROCKLIN, Calif. – Dominican men's soccer broke open a one-goal match with four second-half goals Tuesday afternoon, including three over the final eight minutes, to earn a 5-1 nonconference victory over Jessup at Warrior Field.
The Penguins improved to 1-3-3 after finishing with a 16-12 advantage in shots and putting eight attempts on goal.
Colin Nestor made six saves, while Dominican generated nine corner kicks to Jessup's two.
Jake Kazlauskas led the late surge with two goals and an assist.
Dominican broke through in the 26th minute following a corner kick. A pair of headers kept the ball alive inside the box, with
Andrew Cudden getting the second nod that sent the ball to the foot of
Griffin Brophy. Brophy buried the opportunity for his second goal of the season and a 1-0 lead. The Penguins had several other chances in the half but could not break through as they carried the advantage into halftime.
Nathan Freitas stepped to the penalty spot in the 50th minute looking to double the lead, but Curtis Lynch made the diving save to his left. Dominican needed less than two minutes to find its second goal anyway. A throw-in was sent behind the Jessup defense to
Anthony Stainer, who took the shot off the bounce and beat Lynch for his first goal of the season and a 2-0 advantage. Jessup cut the deficit in half in the 79th minute on a quick counterattack as it worked the ball wide to an open Kamden Sims who finished the sequence one-on-one with the keeper slotting home a shot near post.
Dominican responded just over four minutes later.
Abidan Abraham intercepted a pass off the foot of a Jessup defender and dribbled toward the top of the box before sliding the ball to Kazlauskas at the top center of the box and Kazlauskas buried his shot to restore the two-goal advantage in the 83rd minute. As the clock neared the final minute, Dominican kept a loose ball from escaping the box before it was slipped back to Kazlauskas from the same spot he had scored six minutes earlier and he used a few head fakes to create space before driving a low shot inside the left post for the brace.
Just 28 seconds later, a poor pass back from Jessup fell directly to Kazlauskas. He took the available space down the left side before slipping a backheel pass to
Adrian Garcia, who slotted home Dominican's fifth goal to cap the 5-1 victory. Garcia's goal was his second of the season, while Kazlauskas completed a five-point afternoon with the assist.
Dominican will open conference play as it travels to play Westmont at Thorrington Field on Saturday in Santa Barbara with kickoff set for 2:45 p.m.
