Jimmies overwhelmed in 3-0 loss against St. Francis
Aug. 28—LA CROSSE, Wi. — The new-look University of Jamestown opened its season on the road and the team failed to gel losing 3-0 to the University of Saint Francis on Saturday, Aug. 27, at the V-Hawks Soccer Field.
As far as what his team can take out of this one, Jimmies head coach Connor Campbell said he is glad this game happened when it did.
"It's the first game," Campbell said. "(It is) better to have a road bump early in the year when you can learn from it (rather) than later when you don't have much opportunity to. We also did a better job in the second half."
The first half was all Fighting Saints as they dominated the time of possession and took four shots on goal. The Fighting Saints opened the scoring when Jesus Flores cleaned up a rebound in front to make it 1-0 with 36:25 to go in the first half. and scores to put the Fighting Saints up 1-0 with 36:25 to go in the first half.
The Fighting Saints would add on when Sergio Fernandez-Arango took the ball at the edge of the box, stepped past the Jimmies defender Ben Sletto who promptly yanked the midfielder down. The Saints' Santos Contreras stepped up to the spot and slotted the penalty home to make it 2-0 with 25:33 to go in the first half. The Jimmies got their first dangerous chance of the day with 16 minutes to go in the opening half but Jona Toussaint's shot sailed wide.
While he disagreed with the penalty decision, Campbell said he was more frustrated with what it did to his team's mindset.
"The problem was with it happening that early it defined how our players could and couldn't defend for the majority of the game," Campbell said. "I think as a result we were hesitant the rest of the way because we didn't want to get another one."
The Saints added on in the second half when they got in on goal and the initial chance was blocked away before Diego Cortes was in the right place at the right time to fire the loose ball in past the sprawling hand of Jimmies goalie Matt English to make it 3-0 with 30:21 to go in the game. The Jimmies thought they scored with just over 26 minutes to go when Axcele Biteghe scored but the linesman's flag was up for offsides.
The Jimmies relied heavily on goalie Matthew English to bail them out of dangerous situations as he made six saves on nine shots on goal. English's adversary, Carson Heglund save both shots on goal that he faced. The game had an edge to it as the teams combined for 19 fouls but the Saints cut down on the fouls with only two in the second half compared to the five for the Jimmies.
The Jimmies return to the pitch at 11 a.m. on Sunday, Aug. 28, when they take on Dakota Wesleyan.
UJ 0, STF 3
UJ: 0 0 — 0
STF: 2 1 — 3
Scoring Summary:
First half:
STF: Jesus Flores, 8:35
STF: Santos Contreras (PK), 19:19
Second Half:
STF: Diego Cortes, 59:40
