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LOS ANGELES—After a rough stretch of games, the Dons came out determined on Friday night and snapped a three-game losing streak as they opened up West Coast Conference play with a 1-0 road win at Loyola Marymount.  
 
It is the first time in three years that the Dons (5-5-2, 1-0-0 WCC) have won their conference opener. They will wrap up the weekend by taking on No. 11 Pepperdine on Sunday.
 
"I think losing three in a row affected them," San Francisco head coach Jim Millinder said. "They knew they weren't as sharp as they needed to be. We were unlucky in Denver, unlucky at Cal Poly… Tonight, I thought we really played as a team. Everybody knew what they had to do."
 
Millinder breaks the season into three parts: preseason, conference and postseason. With the Dons' preseason slate complete, it was the opportunity to start with a clean slate. Loyola Marymount (7-3-1, 0-1-0) came in with the second best preseason record in the conference and had won five of the last six matches.
 
"I told the team we're going to start our second season here and get off on the right foot," he said. "It was a good win against a very good LMU team."
 
The Dons kept Loyola Marymount goalkeeper Sophia Leksan busy throughout the first half. In the 13th minute, Alex Alugas got off a shot and had it saved by Leksan. A little more than a minute later, it was Amanda Whittle who had her attempt thwarted by Leksan as well. Sonja Giraud and Jaciara Mello also had their attempts knocked away.
 
The Dons put up five shots with four on goal in the first half.
 
"The first half, we were all over them," Millinder said. "I thought we could create more chances than we did."
 
In the last three matches, San Francisco had opportunities to score first but was unable to capitalize. This time, however, the persistence paid off. In the 54th minute, Abigail Phillips delivered a cross from the right for Mackenzie Krieser, who one touched it in for the goal, giving the Dons a 1-0 lead. It is Krieser's second goal of the season.
 
"I thought we played a complete game tonight," Millinder said. "Our kids battled hard. It was a good result."
 
LMU came back and nearly had the equalizer in the 66th minute when Shannon Kent took a cross but had her shot knocked away by San Francisco goalkeeper Madalyn Schiffel and the rebound by Keala Parker-Lee was also sent away by Jessica Nakae.
 
"Everybody is good enough to create two or three chances against you," Millinder said. "We weathered the attack. We managed the game. The kids did a great job."
 
The two shots in the 66th minute were the Lions' only shots on goal on the night. Schiffel finished with two saves and her fourth shutout of the season. She is now one solo shutout short of tying Amy Voiland (1994-98) for the most career solo shutouts in USF history.