MSOC | Zattarin Lifts Gaels Over Highlanders in OT

Sunday, September 16

Riverside, CA

1:00 p.m. PT

Saint Mary's College of California

7-0-0

UC Riverside

0-7-1

OT 1

OT 2

Saint Mary's (CA)

UC Riverside

Photo by: Saint Mary's Athletics / Tod Fierner

MSOC | Zattarin Lifts Gaels Over Highlanders in OT

9/16/2018 7:03:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Box Score

Saint Mary's earned their seventh victory of the year Sunday afternoon thanks to Filippo Zattarin's double overtime goal.

RIVERSIDE, Calif. — In a seesaw battle Sunday afternoon, Saint Mary's emerged victorious in double overtime to keep their perfect season intact with a 4-3 win over UC Riverside. The Gaels are now 7-0 this year while the Highlanders fell to 0-7-1.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Filippo Zattarin gave Saint Mary's the win with his first tally of 2018 in the 102nd minute of play. The Gaels' defender was set up in close proximity on a pass from Stephen Dougherty, who now has points in the past four matches (three goals, one assist). Zattarin's second career score came on his third shot of the match.

Following an early header goal by the Highlanders, the Gaels responded quickly with two goals in less than a minute stretch. Jakub Svehlik notched the equalizer in the 39th minute off a cross from Valentin Sponer and then assisted Anders Engebretsen's sixth goal of the year 53 seconds later to put Saint Mary's up 2-1.

Jake Rudel scored his team-leading seventh goal on a through ball in the 59th minute to spread the Gaels' lead to two. Rudel's goal marked the fifth consecutive match he has scored and sets a new-season high in goals for the junior after tallying six last year.

Despite allowing three goals in regulation, the Gaels' defense allowed only five shots to the Highlanders in the opening 90 minutes and one more in overtime. Saint Mary's outshot UCR 23-6 in the match and recorded five more corner kicks than their opposition. Sunday's shot outburst nearly tied their season-high of 25 which came against Cal Poly on Sept. 9.

Remi Prieur made two saves in goal to record his seventh win of the season. Prieur has started every match this season and his seven wins are the most a Gaels' keeper has had since Andre Rawls posted 12 in 2014.

THOUGHTS FROM ADAM COOPER
"Proud of the character our team showed today. Not our best performance of the season but we found a way to win with good team spirit and determination. We will learn from this as we prepare for a good Santa Barbara team on Wednesday."

QUICK FACTS

Svehlik led the Gaels with six shots while Engebretsen contributed five.
Saint Mary's is now 3-3-1 all-time against the Highlanders.
The Gaels utilized only three substitutes during the match.
Eight of the Gaels 23 shots came on goal.

UP NEXT: UC SANTA BARBARA
Saint Mary's will return to Moraga for their next matchup versus Santa Barbara on Wednesday. More information and links for the match can be found on the Gaels' schedule page.