SAN FRANCISCO – The No. 24 FGCU men's soccer team (1-1-2) surrendered a penalty kick goal in the 79th minute Friday evening playing with 10 men as the University of San Francisco (3-1-0) claimed a 1-0 win over the Eagles in their first road game of the season.
 
After Will Suedois was issued the red card in the 76th minute trying to make a tackle along the sideline, the Eagles were forced to play with 10 men and USF quickly took advantage.
 
A ball was served into the FGCU box and a USF player and goalkeeper Nathan Ingham collided but no foul was called. With the ball loose near the top of the box, Ingham got back up and dove for it, but the referee ruled that his arm caught the leg of a USF attacker and awarded the Dons the penalty kick. From there, Danny Kirkland finished his second goal of the year as he sent his penalty almost directly into the center of the net as Ingham dove to his left.
 
"I thought we certainly played well enough to win, but we needed to do a better job tonight – and moving forward – of putting shots on frame," head coach Bob Butehorn said. "I give credit to San Francisco for making the most of the opportunities they had, and we just need to find a way to bounce back on Sunday against Saint Mary's."
 
Following the go-ahead USF goal, the Eagles caught a break as David Garrett shoved down Aaron Guillen away from the ball and was red-carded in the 82nd minute to even the sides at 10 men each.
 
The Green and Blue – who were wearing their all-white kits on a cool, blustery evening – had two set-piece opportunities just beyond the top of the San Francisco box over the final six minutes. However, both shots from second-half substitute Felipe DeSousa went awry – the first in the 84th minute over the crossbar and the second in the 87th minute which was blocked out of bounds.
 
Playing its home opener with a first-year coach, San Francisco finished with a 13-11 shot advantage, but each team put three shots on net. Ingham, who entered the evening tied for 11th in the nation with a .923 save percentage, made two saves on the evening and intercepted several other crosses. His best stop of the night came in the 86th minute as Kirkland appeared to have his second tally of the evening ticketed for the upper-right 90, but Ingham made a brilliant dive and deflected the ball over the bar to keep the Eagles' alive.
 
After a few minutes of sloppy action to start the game, FGCU settled in nicely and controlled much of the early action, jumping out to a 5-1 shot edge just 18 minutes into the contest. FGCU's first good look of the evening came in the 11th minute when Isaiah Madrid ripped a left-footed shot from beyond the 18 which was saved by USF keeper Chase Hauser.
 
Hauser was tested again not even 40 seconds later when freshman forward Albert Ruiz attempted a bouncing shot from a close angle, but Hauser was once again equal to the task. Six minutes later – after a pair of FGCU corners –midfielder Miguel Jaime fired a shot from distance which went high, and not even a minute following the freshman's effort fellow classmate Arion Sobers-Assue headed a ball just over the bar.
 
Perhaps the best effort of the first half came off a Jaime corner as he curved a ball into hard-blowing wind with his left foot directly off the crossbar. Following that effort, USF started to even the pitch and eventually squared up the shots at 6-6 as the two sides headed into the halftime break scoreless.
 
The goal that FGCU allowed was just the second of the season, which spans 400 minutes over four games. The backline, anchored in the middle by standout freshman Nicolas Samayoa and veteran Aaron Guillen pitched consecutive shutouts to open the year, and FGCU entered Friday's contest with a 0.29 goals-against average, which was 13th-best in the country.
 
The win was San Francisco's second over a nationally-ranked team already this year as the Dons claimed a 2-1 victory over then-No. 21 Wisconsin to open the season. Their lone loss came to No. 23 UIC (University of Illinois at Chicago) last weekend, 1-0. San Francisco has made 31 all-time NCAA Tournament appearances, claiming four national championships in the process – the fourth most in NCAA history.
 
FGCU will now head across the bay to Moraga to battle Saint Mary's College on Sunday at Noon local time and 3 p.m. Eastern. The Gaels are 2-2-0 on the season following a 3-1 win over Central Arkansas at home Friday afternoon. Their other win came at then-No. 4 and now-No. 10 Washington last Sunday, 2-1. The game is scheduled to be played on campus at Garaventa Field as opposed to the 5,500-seat Saint Mary's Stadium which is undergoing facility renovations.
 
GAME NOTES: This is the second straight year and third time in the past four seasons that FGCU will travel to the West Coast … the Dons as held an 8-3 corner advantage … this was the first meeting between the two programs.