Follow San Francisco Men's Soccer: FACEBOOK | TWITTER
 
LOS ANGELES—In a week that could determine the fate of the West Coast Conference race, the Dons came out and had some good looks in the first half and looked prime to take the lead but Loyola Marymount was able to push the match to double overtime where it got a late goal to hand USF the 2-1 loss on Friday night.
 
"It was just one of those nights where we didn't have enough of our guys play well," San Francisco head coach Eddie Soto said. "They need to rebound and play well. We have a lot to play for [on Sunday]. I'm looking forward to see how we respond."
 
Paired with a San Diego win over Santa Clara, the Dons (9-5-2, 3-1-0 WCC) now trail the first place Toreros (9-4-4, 5-0-0 WCC) by six points entering their matchup on Sunday afternoon at Negoesco Stadium. Game time is at 2 p.m.
 
"We're really going to have to push it to get three points," said Soto.
 
With less than 30 seconds to go, the Lions' Jack McCracken knocked a rebound down in the box and he brought it down and fired but Hauser smothered the attempt and helped send the match to overtime.
 
Minutes into the second overtime, David Romney sent in a cross into the box that nearly missed the head of a streaking Dons player but it cleared to an empty right wing and was cleared by LMU.
 
In the 104th minute, Adrien Perez took a pass from the wing and got his shot off in the box and it rebounded off Hauser and right to the foot Alvaro Madrigal for the game-winner.
 
"They had really good energy," Soto said of the Lions. "They were a team that fought really hard for a lot of balls. We looked sluggish.
 
"You can't do that against teams like LMU."
 
San Francisco had 13 shots on goal against LMU in the first matchup but was held to eight total shots on Friday, the lowest total in over a month.
 
The Dons nearly got on the board early when in the fifth minute Miguel Aguilar danced on the left wing and swung a pass to the front of the box where David Romney rose for the header but it was swatted away on a leaping save by LMU goalkeeper Vince Paldino.
 
Despite the attack from the Dons, LMU got on the board first in the 18th minute when Cruz Corral dribbled from right to left to the top of the box and shot a low grounder that deflected off a Dons defender and past Chase Huaser for the goal.
 
"It woke us up a bit, we came back. I felt we were getting into a rhythm," said Soto.
 
San Francisco battled back and had another clear look at the goal when Danny Kirkland laid one off to Romney in the left flat and his shot was punched away by Paldino.
 
Moments later, the Dons finally broke through when in the 21st minute when Kirkland received a pass from Bryce Kaminski about 30 yards from the goal and his shot found the upper right corner for the equalizer.
 
With only minutes left in the first half, Adrien Perez snuck into the center of the box, received a pass and bicycle kicked it to the top of the goal but Hauser made a leap for the save.
 
It was his team-best sixth goal of the season.
 
Romney was also one of the highlights on defense as he thwarted a number of runs by Perez and Sebastian De Rada from the left back spot.
 
"I was really pleased with how he played tonight. We just need to make sure he recovers and is ready for Sunday," Soto said.