SAN FRANCISCO - Brendan Clark opened his 2023 scoring account, but UC Riverside dropped a 2-1 decision to San Francisco on Sunday evening at Negoesco Stadium in San Francisco. 

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Both sides traded goals in the opening 30 minutes. Brendan Clark opened his 2023 account in the ninth minute as Nathan Scott set up a give and go on the far wing to Andrew Alexander, who crossed it into Clark for the opener. Carlos Gonzalez came slightly off his line in the 28th minute for the save before conceding a penalty that the Dons buried into the top shelf. 
• AJ Meade-Tatum made the critical slide tackle from the back to save a USF go-ahead goal late in the first half. San Francisco had another shot at goal late in the half that the Highlander back line deflected far over Gonzalez's head. 
• Gonzalez was put to the test again just seconds before the halftime whistle. UCR's back line cleaned up the mess in front of goal as both sides went into halftime level, but USF re-emerged from the break with a quick go-ahead score on a corner. 
• The press was on for UC Riverside at that point. UCR's midfield put together a quality buildup in the 52nd minute as Scott and Alexander found Armando Ibarra Jr. in the middle, but Ibarra's powering shot was punched out of the top right corner. Christian Ceja went for goal as well in the 67th but was off target. 
• Clark threw an inswinger in for Diogo Baptista in the 77th minute, whose header was off line. Baptista won an albeit unsuccessful corner a minute later after the Highlanders broke on the counter while continuing to press. UCR played the ball around the final third shortly after in the 83rd until Noah Lopez saw his header ricochet straight over the crossbar. 
• Luka Lukic played a long ball and streaked forward to win another unsuccessful corner in the 89th minute in a final-minute effort to secure a point.

HIGHLANDER HIGHLIGHTS

• Brendan Clark's ninth-minute goal was the second straight time UC Riverside had opened the scoring against San Francisco in the match's first 10 minutes - Roberto Garcia-Vargas bagged a pair of goals in the first 13 minutes of UCR's 3-1 win over the Dons back in 2021. 
• Nathan Scott logged his first collegiate assist on Clark's opener, and Andrew Alexander picked up assist number three of his career. 

UP NEXT

• UC Riverside continues the six-match road trip on Friday, September 8 with a 7:00 p.m. kickoff at San Diego from Torero Stadium on ESPN+.