University of San Francisco Athletics

Box Score

LOS ANGELES—The Dons fought off numerous attacks by Loyola Marymount but a deflection off a Craig Nitti free kick was the difference as the Lions took the match 1-0 on Sunday afternoon.
 
"The kids played extremely hard," San Francisco head coach Erik Visser said. "They really continued to play the way they played against San Diego. LMU is a very dynamic team. It's a very tough place to play."
 
The loss to LMU snapped a short two-game winning streak for the Dons but they were able to take away two wins during a tough three-game road trip in West Coast Conference play after starting league play by collecting one point in three home games.
 
"I'm extremely proud of this team has played on his road trip," Visser said. "I can't really ask more form these guys after such a disappointing start to conference. I think they've shown what they are capable of… In the three away games we defended well and in two games good things happen."
 
The Dons have allowed one goal in this three-game stretch.
 
"I'm very confident we are going to have a strong second round of WCC."
 
The Dons (5-6-2, 2-3-1 WCC) did not get many chances but in the 68th minute, they earned their first corner kick of the match and had a chance to get on the board. The kick was headed away by LMU's Ryan Felix but recovered by Mauricio Diaz De Leon and his cross went over all of his teammates and the Lions were able to clear.
 
San Francisco had another chance in the 75th minute when Liam Kelly danced through three LMU defenders, pulled up for a shot but had it turned away by LMU goalkeeper Paul Blanchette.
 
The Lions (8-3-2, 4-1-1) came right back and were able to finally get on the board when Nitti's free kick from about 30 yards out went low and deflected off another Lion and in for the goal.
 
LMU came out of the half on fire and quickly tried to get on the board. They took three shots, two on goal, within the first 11 minutes of the season half including a shot by Adrien Perez that Connor Gaal was able to wrap up.
 
In the 64th minute, Gaal was at it again when he leaped to knock away a shot by Sean Sears. Gaal had five saves on the afternoon.
 
"We were hoping Connor would insert a certain amount of energy in the group and he has done that," Visser said. "Connor has really responded well to the challenge."
 
Gaal is 4-2-0 and has allowed three goals in his six starts.
 
The Dons will return to action on Friday when they take on Stanford in Palo Alto in nonleague action.
 
Next match
Friday, Oct. 25
Opponent: Stanford
Location: Palo Alto, Calif.
Time: 7 p.m.