By Michael DUMANSKY

Coming off a 1-1 tie with Chaminade, St. Francis soccer head coach Glen Appels found his team making a late push in the second half of Friday night’s game against Crespi hoping to break open the scoring. The Golden Knights were taking shot after shot late in the second half but neither team was able to put it behind the net and the game ended scoreless.

The Golden Knights began the game trying to make an early statement but sophomore Tyler Mallett was stopped by the Crespi defense at the 35-minute mark. Crespi immediately went on the counter-attack but was halted by St. Francis senior goalkeeper Luis Granados. Crespi then took the opportunity to expose St. Francis weaknesses and tested Granados for the remainder of the first half while he hustled for each play. But the Golden Knight went into the locker room at the half to make the proper adjustments when returning to the field.

“Our coaches said [Crespi was] going to be dangerous, especially off throw-ins. We were on our guard on all the throw-ins and, yes, they had a lot of them in the first half, but we locked it down pretty well,” said Granados.

The Knights did change things around in the second half as they pressured the Crespi strikers at midfield and kept the ball along the side of the field. Things got chippy as both sides received warnings for aggressive play during the latter stages of the match. This style of play ended up working in favor of the Golden Knights. At the 31st minute of the second half, St. Francis was able to draw a penalty shot providing an underlying chance to turn the game in their favor. But the shot was saved further demoralizing the Knights.

In frustration the Golden Knights committed sloppy penalties and senior Max Weideman-Escobedo received a yellow card with 9:45 left to play.

Despite the game ending in a stalemate St. Francis left the field with a positive mindset.

“There were plenty of chances we could have [played] and we can’t blame the tie on that one opportunity,” said Senior Golden Knight Luis Gold about the penalty opportunity.

The Golden Knights’ next home game will be on the Jan. 17 at 5 p.m.

  Michael DUMANSKY