Penalty kick beats GU
DALLAS – The Gonzaga men’s soccer team fought valiantly, but in the end, the Bulldogs couldn’t find the back of the net.
Gonzaga (9-7-4), which had just seven shots, failed to score for the fifth straight game, losing 1-0 to fifth-ranked Southern Methodist University in a first-round NCAA Division I tournament match at Westcott Field. The Mustangs (14-4-2), who advance to play Creighton on Wednesday, had 21 shots.
“It was just a fast-paced game,” Gonzaga head coach Einar Thorarinsson said. “I thought the conditions were a little tough, but it was a good, hard match.”
Saturday night’s affair was played on a wet field. Rains throughout the day in the Dallas area, which continued to fall throughout the game, resulted in a soaked pitch.
“We felt the field was fast, which was unusual for us,” Thorarinsson said. “It being wet made it even faster. It took us a long time to adapt to the field conditions.”
The star of the game for the Bulldogs was senior goalkeeper Vito Higgins, who registered a career-high 14 saves. The only shot he didn’t stop was a 76th-minute penalty kick by Bruno Guarda that proved to be the game-winner.
Guarda’s goal came after Gonzaga’s Conor Baranski took the Brazilian midfielder down inside the box. The referee noticed the infraction and quickly pointed to the penalty spot. Guarda then stepped up and with Higgins going to his left, punched the ball into the right side of the net for the score.
“I was on the other side of the field,” Thorarinsson said about the penalty kick. “The referee may have had a poor angle on it, but he called it and they hit it.”
Thorarinsson singled out Higgins for a stellar showing between the posts for the losing side.
“Vito had a great game,” Thorarinsson said. “He was outstanding and had an incredible performance.”
Despite making a number of big saves in his final game as a collegian, the defeat was still hard to swallow for Higgins.
“It’s tough,” he said. “We all played well. We’re a good team and they’re a good team. It’s just unfortunate that we had to go out on a penalty kick. We stopped them everywhere else on the field. It’s just an unfortunate ending for us.”
In the season-ending defeat, the Bulldogs turned in yet another strong defensive performance. Gonzaga finished the year having surrendered just 15 goals in 20 games.
“I thought our defense played very well,” Thorarinsson said. “We adapted in the first five minutes when I thought we were giving up a lot of shots, but after that, I thought we were fine.”
Offensively, the Bulldogs were led by John Palladino, who finished the evening with seven shots. Gonzaga forced SMU goalkeeper Steve Sandbo to make just three saves, none in the second half.
Senior forward George Josten, who has led the West Coast Conference in scoring each of the last two seasons, had a quiet game and finished with just one shot.