San Francisco clinched home-field advantage for their NASL semifinal playoff match after a 1-1 draw against North Carolina FC. Here are three things we learned from the game:

1) The Deltas finished undefeated while playing 7 games in 21 days.

After a series of postponed games in September gave the team 18 days off, San Francisco faced having to play seven league games in twenty-one days in October. It would be a daunting task for any team, but especially so for a Deltas squad that was already thin after the injuries to Cristian Portilla and Nana Attakora and the departure of Danny Cruz.

“We don’t have a youth team,” Dos Santos told the SFGATE in July. “It’s important for us to keep everybody fresh, everybody ready, and everybody involved, so the roster is always ready to go when we need them.”

The Deltas responded with their best form all year. They didn’t lose a game, winning four and drawing three. Coach Dos Santos deftly rotated the full roster and relied on every player for meaningful minutes during the stretch. For example, on Saturday night he started Andrew Lubahn out wide. The super sub played well regularly pressuring the NCFC defense. His low cross almost led to a goal for the Deltas in the 62nd minute.

2) Romuald Peiser comes to the rescue once again.

There have been many stars for the San Francisco Deltas, but the most consistent player game in and game out has been keeper Romuald Peiser.

All season long Peiser has made the save to ensure that the Deltas would get a positive result. In the 45th minute against NCFC, Peiser made a kick save on Steven Miller’s point-blank chance to keep San Francisco behind only by one goal. In the 72nd minute, North Carolina was pressing for a score after having just conceded on the other side of the field. A cross into the box was headed away by defender Renier Ferriera but not out of danger.

North Carolina’s Andre Fortune ran onto the ball unmarked and had a clear shot on goal that was also kick-saved expertly by Peiser.

For the season the Deltas keeper has a 1.06 Goals-Against-Average and 12 shutouts. His play has not gone unnoticed by the other teams in the league. It earned him a nomination for player of the year in the NASL.

3) San Francisco’s league-best away record is a testament to the dedication of the Deltas players and coaches

For the Deltas, it was their form on the road that secured their playoff game at home. Not many teams finish with a better away record (7 wins, 8 draws, 1 loss for 29 points) than home record (7 wins, 4 draws, 4 losses, one more game to go for 25 points), but San Francisco displayed an incredible ability to focus and get results.

All season long coach Dos Santos stressed the importance to his team of picking up points, whether they be victory or draws, to secure their goal of making the playoffs. It was that dedication to grinding out every game that led to San Francisco making the NASL playoffs and hosting a semifinal game on Nov. 5th at home.

NOTES:

The Deltas will play their final regular game of the season at 5 pm on Saturday, October 28th at Kezar Stadium. The team announced that all tickets for the game will only be five dollars and they will be giving away free San Francisco Deltas merchandise starting at 3 pm. Lou the Seal will also be giving away Halloween candy as well.