San Francisco Deltas midfielder Tyler Gibson picked the perfect time to score his first goal of the season.

His screamer of a shot from the just outside the top of the box snuck inside the right goal post in the 40th minute. It was the difference maker in a tightly contested semifinal playoff game the Deltas won 1-0. The victory advances San Francisco to the NASL Championship where they will host the New York Cosmos.

“What a goal to put us in the final,” said SF Deltas head coach Marc Dos Santos, “The thing you don’t know about Tyler is the person. His heart, his mentality. To have a prize like that is incredible.”

San Francisco put North Carolina on their back heels from the start of the game and never let the visiting side get comfortable attacking. NCFC was only able to attempt seven shots all match with none on target. The Deltas attempted 10 shots with three on goal.

In the second half, SF’s best chance to increase the lead was in the 56th minute when a Kyle Bekker free kick was lofted to Jackson who headed the ball back to Reiner Ferreira. His shot was just tipped over the bar by NCFC goalkeeper Macklin Robinson.

North Carolina had a half chance in the 81st minute when Renan Gorne got behind the defense on a lofted pass but was unable to control the ball cleanly. Deltas goalkeeper Romuald Peiser rushed out to smother the attempt.

The visiting side had one more attempt on a free kick in the 90th minute, but Lance Liang’s shot went right into the SF Deltas defensive wall.

“All year, you have seen it so many times, so many examples throughout the year, these guys showed signs of being winners,” said Dos Santos. “We played a good game today. Two good teams, but we deserved it.”

The Deltas will host the defending champion New York Cosmos at Kezar Stadium on Sunday, November 12th at 5 pm for the NASL Championship, also known as the Soccer Bowl. The Cosmos stunned first-place Miami FC earlier in the day winning on penalty kicks. The game will be a rematch of the same two NASL coaches who faced off in the 2015 NASL finals when Giovanni Savarese, New York’s coach, played Marc Dos Santos’ Ottawa Fury team.

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Match: SF Deltas vs. North Carolina FC

Date: November 5, 2017

Competition: NASL Championship Semifinals

Venue: Kezar Stadium in Golden Gate Park; San Francisco, Calif.

Kickoff: 5:00 p.m. PT

Attendance: 3586

Weather: Sunny 50F

Scoring Summary: 1 0 FT

SFD 1 0 1

NCFC 0 0 0

SFD – 41′ – #4-M Tyler Gibson

NCFC –

Lineups:

SFD: SF Deltas Lineups:

1-GK Romuald Peiser, 3-D Nana Attakora(c), 20-D Karl Ouimette, 35-D Reiner Ferreira, 7-M Jackson, 4-M Tyler Gibson, 10-M Kyle Bekker, 15-M Maxim Tissot, 23-M Greg Jordan (72′ 11-F Pablo Dyego), 30-M Michael Stephens, 9-F Tommy Heineman (94′ 17-F Devon Sandoval).

Subs not used: 24-GK Alex Mangels, 5-D Kenny Teijsse, 23-M Greg Jordan, 27-M Andrew Lubahn

Head coach: Marc dos Santos

NCFC: North Carolina FC Lineups:

NCFC : 1-GK Mackline Robinson, 2-D Paul Black (89′ 11-F Tiyi Shipelane), 13-D Connor Tobin, 15-D Christian Ibeagha, 4-M James Marcelin, 16-M Andre Fortune (62′ 7-M Lance Laing), 10-F Nazmi Albadawi (c), 18-M Marcel Kandziora, 6-F Austin Da Luz, 17-F Billy Schuler, 26-F Renan Gorne (84′ 19-F Johnathan Glen)

Subs not used: 37-F Danny Barrow, 24-GK George Marks, 12-D Karee Moses, 30-D/M Boluwatife Akinyode.

Head coach: Colin Clarke

Stats Summary: SFD / NCFC

Shots: 10/7

Shots on Goal: 3/0

Saves: 0/2

Corner Kicks: 4/5

Fouls: 9/13

Offside: 1/3

Misconduct Summary:

SFD – 60’ #23-M Greg Jordan (yellow), 90’ #10-M Kyle Bekker (yellow)

NCFC –

Officials

Referee: Alex Chilowcz

Assistant Referee 1: Cameron Blanchard

Assistant Referee 2: Jeremy Kieso

4th Official: Victor Rivas