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SAN DIEGO, Calif.—Despite having its chances throughout the match, the Dons were unable to capitalize and allowed San Diego to get a goal late in the second half as they dropped the West Coast Conference contest 1-0 on Thursday night.
 
"I feel gutted for them. Their effort was tremendous," San Francisco head coach Jim Millinder said of his team. "[San Diego] probably played the most difficult schedule in the country and we played them toe-to-toe.
 
"We knew we needed to win tonight to make a run at it… It was like an NCAA Tournament game. It was a battle."
 
After a scoreless first half, both teams picked up the intensity in the second.
 
The Toreros nearly broke the tie just after halftime when Julia Sherwood delivered a corner kick to the near post to find Jacqueline Altschuld and her shot was knocked down by San Francisco goalkeeper Madalyn Schiffel and the rebound went wide.
 
Schiffel finished with five saves on the night.
 
Sonja Giraud had her second great chance to get the Dons on the board in the 56th minute when she stole a pass deep in San Diego territory, turned and charged forward and went one-on-three when she fired from inside the box but her shot went wide left.
 
"Sonja played well," Millinder said. "That was the best game she's played since she became a Don and against a very good opponent."
 
In the 76th minute, Mackenzie Krieser checked back into the game and quickly gained possession of the ball and streaked down the left side and crossed it in and just missed the foot of Amanda Whittle, who was at the foot of the goal.
 
The San Diego pressure finally won out and in the 84th minute, Nikki Pappalardo dribbled to the end line and crossed it past Schiffel to find Altschuld for the tip-in goal.
 
"I thought we had a nice run in there where we created some good chances," Millinder said. "It was dead even game and we made a mistake late and paid for it.
 
"Our communication has to be better. There was indecision there."
 
San Francisco has not won back-to-back matches since beating Boston and UC Davis in early September. The Dons have four WCC matches remaining and will move on to No. 17 BYU on Saturday for their final road match of the season.
 
San Diego, which had played seven ranked teams this season and has collected wins over No. 10 Michigan, No. 7 Pepperdine, No. 20 San Diego State and No. 19 Oklahoma, was one of the toughest opponents the Dons have faced this season.
 
"We're not there yet but we're darn close," Millinder said.
 
Giraud nearly put the Dons up early when in the 22nd minute she stole a pass, turned back towards the goal and launched a ball from about 35 yards out and only a diving save from San Diego goalkeeper Michelle Craft kept the match scoreless.
 
In the 38th minute, Allison Arriola stole a pass near midfield and dished a pass to Camille Wilson, who was in-rhythm, who changed directions and dribbled into the box and got a one-on-one look at Craft but her shot was saved.
 
"I thought the first 20 minutes, they had the game and the last 25 minutes, we were all over them," Millinder said. "At the end of the first half, we had some great looks."