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SAN DIEGO, Calif.—The Dons battled sweltering temperatures and were unable to get the offensive going in the first half but after the break, went in the attack and scored twice to help lift them to the 2-0 non-conference victory over San Diego on Friday night.
 
Game time temperature was in the low 90s and it took some time for the Dons (6-2-1) to get acclimated to the conditions.
 
"We had a really hard time with the conditions. The weather had a huge factor on how we came out in that game," San Francisco head coach Eddie Soto said. "We were lucky to come out of that half it being 0-0."
 
The adjustment came when freshman Kamron Crow entered the game in the 28th minute and helped to stabilize the Dons midfield.
 
"We were chasing a lot," Soto said. "We weren't able to maintain and Kamron came in and really solidified the midfield. He helped us get into a rhythm. It allowed us to settle things down and get into a rhythm, with the way we like to play… It speaks volumes about him and where he's at as a player."
 
The Dons came out in the second half on the attack and began to find cracks in the San Diego defense. In the 51st minute, USF got it into the box and it bounced into the air where Joshua Smith leaped for the bicycle kick but his shot went high.
 
Five minutes later, Miguel Aguilar put in a cross to David Romney who headed it to a cutting Danny Kirkland at the top of the box, who drilled it low and towards the right post and past the diving San Diego goalkeeper Thomas Olsen for the go-ahead goal.
 
"Romney did a really good job of heading that back in," Soto said. "Danny made a really technical turn.
It was a very, very nice finish."
 
It was Kirkland's third goal of the season.
 
USF had a chance to add to the lead in the 73rd minute when Manny Padilla streaked down the right side, delivered it to the near post and just missed the foot of Davi Ramos but it forced a corner kick. The kick from Kirkland went to the far side where Jesus Del Toro gathered the ball and found Smith in the center of the box for the header and the goal to give USF a commanding 2-0 lead.
 
"It's something we talk about all the time, finishing plays in the final third," Soto said. "We did a really good job of that."
 
San Francisco had eight corner kicks on the night.
 
The last time San Francisco had at least six wins after their first nine matches was in 1992. The Dons return to the pitch on Sunday when they host Loyola Marymount at 2 p.m.
 
In the 19th minute, Bryce Kaminski drove center at the top of the box, dumped it off to Aguilar, who dished to Romney in the left flat and his cross missed the mark and return possession to San Diego.
 
San Diego with chances early on and the Dons back line was able to thwart the attempts without a shot being taken.
 
San Diego had its best chance of the match thus far in the 37th minute when Julian Ringhof headed a free kick in the box but Chase Hauser made a diving save to his left to keep it a scoreless contest.
 
San Diego almost got on the board in the 43rd minute when Thomas Finkerstrand fired a bullet from about 25 yards out and had it go off the crossbar.
 
The Dons limited the Toreros chances in the second half and picked up their third straight clean sheet and fifth of the season. Hauser finished with four saves on the night.
 
In the 41st minute, Dons got a corner kick and it was delivered in by Aguilar but was punched away by Olsen. The ball rolled out of bounds, giving the Dons another corner kick and this was caught in the air by Olsen.