Box Score SPOKANE, Wash. — Gonzaga men's soccer jumped out to a two-goal lead and then held off a late charge from San Francisco to earn a 2-1 victory on Saturday night at Luger Field in Spokane, Wash.
Goals from
Demitrius Kigeya and
Garrett Wilson gave Gonzaga (2-8-1, 1-1-0) enough of a cushion to take down the Dons (2-8-1, 0-2-0). The Zags outshot USF 14-7, and goalkeeper
Johan Garibay had three saves in the match.
"This win is all about the guys and the program," head coach
Paul Meehan said. "It's an important step going forward. There is room for continuing to build on this and continuing to grow as a team."
The Zags got on the board first in the 18
th minute with Wilson's goal.
Cole Rovegno played a perfect left-footed corner kick into the middle of the box, and Wilson leapt over the defenders to head the ball home and give GU a 1-0 lead.
Gonzaga took that lead into halftime, but wasted no time early in the second half with another goal. This time Kigeya collected a pass from
Isaiah Jackson, outmuscling the defender for the ball, and beat the keeper with a right-footed shot to make it 2-0.
San Francisco didn't go away as they got back to within one goal after Jonah Van Der Werf made it 2-1 in the 73
rd minute.
Down the stretch, however, the Zags maintained possession of the ball for long stretches and ran the clock out without USF getting any more scoring opportunities.
Gonzaga will be back on the road at San Diego on Oct. 26 at 7 p.m. Check GoZags.com for links to live coverage.