The Dominican University men's soccer posted their second straight clean sheet to open the 2018 season, blanking the Fontbonne University Griffins, 2-nil, at West Campus Field in River Forest, Illinois, on Sunday afternoon.  Denis Soldo notched the game-winner while Alexander Lulek knocked in his first tally of the season on a set piece for an insurance goal.
 
Coming off a nine-goal effort in the season-opener, the Stars picked up where they left off with Soldo getting on the end of a through ball from freshman #Jonathan Hernandez# in just the seventh minute of play.  Dominican continued to keep the pressure on the Griffins backline throughout much of the next 20 minutes before adding an insurance tally on a set piece in the 24^th minute.  #Isaac Perez# raced to a 50-50 ball before gaining the endline where he was taken to the turf by a Fontbonne defender.  On the ensuing restart, Hernandez served a ball towards the front post where Lulek was able to get on the end and beat the Griffin goalkeeper to the near post.
 
The Stars outshot the Griffins 10-5 for the half, putting seven shots on target and forcing Fontbonne's Erik Volk to make five saves during the opening 45 minutes.
 
Playing with the lead, Dominican did not create as many dangerous opportunities during the second half but managed to limit Fontbonne to just two shots, neither of which made their way through to Dominican's #Daniel Dominguez# who picked up his second shutout of the season.
 
"We played a solid first half but unfortunately didn't complete the 90 minutes like we should have," said Erick Baumann, the Stars' head coach, following the match. "I thought we were sloppy and lacked intensity in the second 45 minutes.  That said, it's nice to get another shut-out win and be able to hold them to zero shots on goal during the match."

The Stars outshot the Griffins 16-7 on the match, forcing Volk to make seven saves while Dominiguez did not have to make a save on the seven shots he faced.

Hernandez finished with two assists in the winning effort and the freshman now has two goals and three assists over his first two collegiate matches.
 
The Stars will enjoy an off-day for the Labor Day holiday on Monday before beginning training for next Saturday's match at Elmhurst College.  Kickoff for that one is slated for 7:00 p.m. at Langhorst Field.

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