Sept. 10, 2005

Box Score

CORVALLIS, Ore. - Gonzaga University had a 13-7 edge in a shots and a 9-5 edge in shots on goal, but in the end it was Iona College that came away with a 3-0 men's soccer victory Saturday on the final day of the Stephen Hensor/Joe Zaher Classic.

Gonzaga (2-1-1) split its two matches in the tournament following Friday's 3-1 win over the University of Kentucky. Iona also went 1-1 in the tournament and picked up its first win in four tries this season. Iona lost to host Oregon State University 1-0 on Friday.

OSU won the title with a 1-0-1 record following a 2-2 tie Saturday with Kentucky, which finished 0-1-1. Iona took second by virtue of its win over Gonzaga and Kentucky took fourth.

After a scoreless first half, Iona got three goals in a 15-minute stretch early in the second half to put the match away. Paul Racines gave the Gaels the only goal they would need at 48:54, drilling a hard shot from 25 yards past Gonzaga keeper Vito Higgins for the unassisted goal. Eric Brown scored at 55:10 as Iona used some quick passes to set Brown up for the score. Chris Butler ended the scoring at 63:40, taking a thru ball and beating the Gonzaga defense.

Higgins had a pair of saves for the Bulldogs while Iona keeper Tom Orbacz had nine saves, six in the second half to keep Gonzaga at bay.

The Bulldogs will be idle this coming week, then host Oregon State in their home opener on Sept. 20 to begin a stretch of six straight home matches. Gonzaga will host the Gonzaga Nike Soccer Classic Sept. 23-25 prior to entering West Coast Conference action with three straight home matches.