Dons turn in strong performance, fall short against Stanford

Friday, October 25

Stanford, CA

7:00 p.m.

University of San Francisco

5-7-2

Stanford

7-4-2

Team	1	2	OT 1	Final F
San Francisco Dons	0	1	0	1
Stanford	0	1	1	2

Photo by: Stephanie Trapp

Dons turn in strong performance, fall short against Stanford

10/25/2013 10:00:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Box Score

PALO ALTO, Calif.—Unfortunate bounces found the foot of Stanford's Zach Batteer twice and his shot in overtime was the difference as the Dons fell 2-1 on Friday night in nonleague action.

"They are a very good team," San Francisco head coach Erik Visser said. "We gave ourselves a chance to compete against a very good Pac-12 team."

The Dons (5-7-2) had chances to take the match in overtime and the best look came in the 94th minute when Liam Kelly was on a breakaway and Stanford goalie Drew Hutchins made a great play to preserve the came for the Cardinal.

Three minutes later, Stanford (7-4-2) was on the attack and Ty Thompson put a shot on goal that Chase Hauser punched away but the Dons were able to clear and that is when Batteer drilled the rebound past the Dons goalie for the game-winner.

"We had a chance to win but they capitalized on our mistake," Visser said. "We had a really good chance in overtime."

The Dons have played four straight road games and have looked like a completely different team. They have split their four games but the level of play has risen to a new level since its 4-1 loss to Saint Mary's two weeks ago.

"Since our home game against Saint Mary's, our guys have responded terrific," Visser said. "They played well, organized, created some good opportunities late in the game. We told the guys, 'Let's get back to the basics and compete."

"We have good momentum going into conference."

The Dons will resume West Coast Conference play next week when they return to Negoesco Stadium to face San Diego and Loyola Marymount.

San Francisco found itself trailing 1-0 after a goal from Batteer in the 64th minute off another rebounded shot.

The Dons responded with a goal of their own when in the 78th minute Jesus Del Toro headed in Miguel Aguilar's header which went short of the goal. It was Del Toro's team-best third goal of the season.

Hauser made his first start in four games and finished with seven saves.

"Chase did well and I thought he brought a lot of energy to the game," Visser said.

The Dons played without starters Kevin Gould and Christian De Luna but are expected to be back for the matches against San Diego and Loyola Marymount.

"I think the guys are hunger and determined to show everyone we have a good team this year," Visser said.