The University of Guam Men's Soccer Team won their opening match of the Fall 2016 season 2-1 over the Sidekicks FC at the Guam Football Association Soccer Complex on a wet Friday night in the Men's League (Division II) opening match of the season.

The Tritons dominated play most of the match, especially in the 2nd half but fell behind 1-0 when the Sidekicks were awarded a penalty kick in the first half on a controversial call—the UOG goalie ran into an opposing player trying to score inside the box. The Tritons felt their goalie was playing the ball at least two steps before colliding with the Sidekick player.

The Tritons went in at half-time down 0-1 but came out strong in the 2nd half and displayed superior conditioning by dominating play for most of the final 45 minutes.

The Tritons were awarded a penalty kick as well about halfway through the final half as one of their players was taken down in the box. They tied the match 1-1 on junior Dylan Naputi's goal as he beat the Sidekicks goalie to the corner of the net.

UOG had many scoring opportunities during the later stages of the match, having several corner kicks and possessions of the ball inside the Sidekicks’ box but with less than 1 minute left the game, the Tritons broke through from inside the box where a huge scramble occurred for the ball and junior John Raz got a foot on the ball and into the net the ball went.

The Sidekicks mounted no threat in the final seconds of the match, and the Tritons won their first match in this new generation of Triton Soccer.

UOG is now 1-0 on the season and will play their second match on Monday, October 17 against the Shinko EuroCar team at the GFA Soccer Complex at 7:00 p.m.

SEE PHOTOS OF THE MATCH HERE