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SAN FRANCISCO—The Dons looked primed to win their first match in two weeks and took an early two-goal lead but watched it slip away in the second half as they dropped the West Coast Conference match to Gonzaga 3-2 on Sunday afternoon.
 
"Everybody in our conference is good and I think we have to make sure our players are focused in on doing the right things that they have been doing through conference play," San Francisco head coach Jim Millinder said. "As the season goes on, you're not going to the NCAA Tournament, it's, 'Are you going to go through the motions or are you going to go out and play and make yourself better?'"
 
After falling behind 3-2 early in the second half, the Dons (6-10-3, 2-5-1 WCC) put on a furious run at the end of the game and nearly punched in the game-tying goal when with 40 seconds remaining Amanda Whittle raced to take the corner kick and delivered a ball into the box, which was headed by Madalyn Schiffel to Jessica Nakae who took a shot from the left post but had it saved.
 
Whittle got one more chance at a corner kick, swung it in but it was sent out of bounds by the Gonzaga defense as time expired.
 
"We've got to fight harder," Millinder said. "Sometimes I feel we don't fight as hard as we can. We play in spurts and if we played the final 20 minutes, when we pressed with four, for the full duration, we win going away."
 
San Francisco will return to action next Saturday for Senior Day, which will be the final collegiate game for Jaciara Mello, Abigail Phillips, Mackenzie Krieser and Celia Pellegrini.
 
The Dons wasted little time getting on the board and did it in similar fashion to their first goal on Friday. In the fourth minute, Whittle delivered a short corner to Nakae, who dished it back to Whittle and she crossed it in the box to find the head of Sydnie Telson for the goal.
 
It was the second goal for Telson in as many games.
 
"It's a good goal," Millinder said. "It's stuff we train all the time. It has happened two games in a row with good execution. It's nice to get that especially against a team playing on the road."
 
Gonzaga had a chance to get the equalizer when in the 12th minute, Tori Lee chipped in a pass to the front of the goal where Karley Baggerly caught it but had her shot slice wide right.
 
The Bulldogs held much of the possession in the first half but the Dons were able to quickly add on when in the 20th minute Allison Arriola streaked down the left side and when she reached the end line, crossed it in to find Alex Alugas whose shot bounced off the bottom of the crossbar and in to give USF a 2-0 lead.
 
Gonzaga began to climb back into the game in the 36th minute when Baggerly sent in a short cross from the right end line and found Heather Johnson for the chip-in goal to make it a 2-1 game.
 
"Sometimes you don't like to score so early. Now all of a sudden, their pounding balls forward," Millinder said. "That first goal was critical. I was hoping we'd get to halftime, chat and solve some things."
 
After the halftime break, Gonzaga quickly turned the momentum in its favor when the Bulldogs got headers from Lexi Clark and Johnson on two straight corner kicks in the 64th and 66th minutes to take a 3-2 lead.
 
"The biggest disappointment was the two restarts," Millinder said. "It was a day our goalkeeper didn't play her best match and we couldn't finish our chances."
 
Sonja Giraud had a chance to tie it in the 81st minute when she took a cross from Alugas at the top of the box and had an opening but her shot was knocked down by a sliding Christie Tombari.