Cougars Open 2022 with a 2-0 Victory Over Greenville Panthers
| Final | 1 | 2 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Saint Francis (Ind.) (1-0) | 1 | 1 | 2 |
|
Greenville (exhibition) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
FORT WAYNE, Ind. – The University of Saint Francis Cougars (1-0) traveled to Greenville, Illinois to open the 2022 season on the road against the Greenville University Panthers (0-1) and behind timely offense and stellar defense won 2-0.
As the game got underway the Cougars went on the offensive. They opened with a shot in the first 21 seconds and less than two minutes later, they broke open the score with a goal from junior midfielder Enrique Subiran assisted by sophomore defender Brayden Gillman to take a 1-0 lead.
Starting in goal for the Cougars was freshman Joe Deitering making his USF debut and stepped up to the challenge making some key saves to keep his team in the lead and a couple more back-and-forth battles downfield ensued until the game went to halftime with Saint Francis still leading 1-0.
Heading into the second half the Cougars picked up where they left off. They started back on offense and made a couple more shots toward the goal though to no avail. Then after a couple shots were returned from the Panthers, Deitering kept the ball out of the net.
Then rolling into the final minutes the Cougars doubled their lead on a goal from junior midfielder Lino Siebel assisted by freshman midfielder Dalton Blankenbaker to lead 2-0 in the 74th minute, and a couple more shots from each side went for naught as Saint Francis held on the prevail by two to open the season.
"It's always great to get a clean sheet after a long road trip," Head Coach Jake Essig said on Thursday's win. "A lot of credit to the team for providing energy from the opening whistle to the closing whistle."
Throughout the game the Cougars managed 13 shots with five of them on goal while Deitering made five saves on net from the Panthers.
The Cougars resume play on Saturday afternoon when they travel to Elsah, Illinois to take on Principia College in their season opener beginning at 12:00 pm.
Cougar fans stay updated with all events and updates with USF athletics by visiting Saintfranciscougars.com or by downloading the Saint Francis Cougars app.