St. Mary's men beat San Diego

Moraga, CA *– The Saint Mary’s(m) men’s soccer team opened up West Coast Conference action in a big way, defeating defending conference champion the University of San Diego by a 1-0 score in overtime. Justin Grider directed a header into the net off a pass from Joel Fumia in the 98th minute to cash in the victory for the Gaels.

“Every conference game is an absolute battle,” said head coach Adam Cooper. “In overtime we came out and showed that we wanted to win the game.”

With the win, Saint Mary’s improves to 5-2-1, 1-0-0 WCC, while USD drops to 3-4-1, 0-1-0 WCC.

The winning goal came as Saint Mary’s won a ball at midfield. Fumia dribbled the ball downfield and made a big run as he served up the header for Justin Grider to knock in the game-winner. The last time SMC defeated USD was during the 2008 season.

In the first-half, USD had the ball in its side of the field often, taking five shots with five corner kicks. Saint Mary’s only managed three first-half shots and one corner kick attempt.

In the second-half, USD outshot SMC 3-2 but a costly red card was issued to the Torero goalie in the 76th minute.

The Gaels took advantage with the man-up advantage the rest of the way, taking three shots in the overtime period, including Grider’s game-winner.

Doug Herrick made four saves and tallied his fourth shutout of the year. Herrick lowered his goals against average to 0.95.

Justin Grider ended the game with five shots, including three on goal. Fumia, Dylan Leslie and Erik Rivas also attempted shots for the Gaels.

USD was paced by Marcelo Carminatti and Patrick Wallen with two shots apiece.

Saint Mary’s is back in action on Sunday, October 3 when it hosts preseason WCC favorite Loyola Marymount. Kick-off is set for 2:00 p.m. in Saint Mary’s Stadium.