Sept. 2, 2005
Box Score
River Forest, Ill. - A quick Gonzaga counterattack produced two second-half goals as the visiting Bulldogs (1-0) knocked off Loyola (0-1), 3-2, in the season opener for both teams at the Fr. Leo Sweeney Jesuit Cup at Concordia University in River Forest, Ill.
"I was proud of our effort today," said first-year men's head coach Brendan Eitz. "We had a couple of defensive breakdowns that they made us pay for but those are things that we can correct. We produced some quality chances in the second half and the match really could have gone either way."
In what proved to be a wide-open affair, Loyola was nearly the recipient of a gift opener in the fourth minute when a backwards header from the Gonzaga defense trickled just wide past the stranded Bulldog keeper. The visitors first chance came just five minutes later when striker George Josten's shot after a nifty 50-yard run through the Loyla defense was just deflected to safety by keeper Sean Bond. Loyola came close again in the 23rd minute as freshman Luis Paiva split the Gonzaga defense with a beautiful ball to striker Dino Melitas, but Zags keeper Vito Higgins was up to the task. Moments later, the visitors opened the scoring as Luke Miller poked home a low cross to give GU a 1-0 lead. The scoreline remained the same heading into halftime, only after Josten shot wide of an open net in the final 30 seconds.
It took just six minutes of the second half for an inspired Loyola team to pull even as senior Lee Zarzecki headed home the tying goal following good work from Joe Nierzwicki on the right side. The tie was short-lived as Gonzaga struck back after 59 minutes when Josten shook free down the right flank and Grant Lundberg side-footed in his low cross for a 2-1 Gonzaga lead. The Bulldogs looked to put the match away in the 73rd minute when Josten got on the scoresheet, tapping one into an open net from close range, but the Ramblers fought right back. Junior Matt Marek rose above a crowd to nod home Keum Sung Kim's cross to make it a 3-2 game in the 75th minute. Senior Bill Metzger had a deflected shot saved beautifully by Higgins and LU's search for another equalizer came up short.
Loyola wraps up play at the Fr. Leo Sweeney Jesuit Cup on Sunday afternoon when it takes on Xavier at 2:30 p.m. at Concordia University.
