Sacramento State defeated University of San Francisco 2-0 in its home opener Sunday night.

After a scoreless first half, Sac State scored at the 52:40 mark when the ball was deflected into the goal by a USF defender during a drive by Sac State junior Matt Linenberger.

USF came out aggressive and got off several shots early. Dons goalkeeper Brendan Roslund contributed to the effort by pushing the tempo when he received the ball.

During the first half, both teams put pressure on the opposing goalkeepers with five shots taken by USF and six by Sac State.

Sac State head coach Michael Linenberger (father of Matt) was impressed by his team’s performance.

“I think we played some of our best soccer of the year in the first half,” Linenberger said. “I thought our possession and ability to connect passes (was) pretty good in the first half.”

The second half was played with an increased sense of urgency. Coach Linenberger said he used more substitutions than he normally would to keep up the pace of the game and to counteract the afternoon heat.

“(The Dons) don’t like this heat and even though the heat’s tough for us, we’re a little but more use to it than them,” Linenberger said. “We really wanted to push the speed of the game.”

Midfielder Gabriel Silveira padded Sac State’s lead late in the second half when he converted a pass from senior Bryan Baker into a goal.

“A few minutes before, I was telling myself, ‘I got to score, it’s like the third game in the season, I want to start off right,'” Silveira said. “I was wide open (by) the far post, so I just sprinted as fast as I could to get there…and luckily I got it in.”

Sac State goalkeeper Bryan Oliver said he thinks the team accomplished what it wanted to.

“We could have played a little bit better soccer,” he said. “Passing, finding the midfield and everything like that, but getting the shut out and getting the win at home I think is big time.”

Katie McMillin can be reached at [email protected].