University of San Francisco Athletics

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2014 SCHEDULE | 2014 ROSTER | SEASON PREVIEW | GAME NOTES
 
Matches Nos. 1-2
San Francisco Dons (0-0-0) at California Golden Bears (0-0-0)
Friday, August 22, 2014 • 5 p.m.
Edwards Stadium • Berkeley, Calif.
All-time record vs. Cal: 3-14-2
Last Meeting: California wins 3-0 (Sept. 30, 2013 at Negoesco Stadium)
Live Stats: CalBears.com
Television: Pac-12 Networks Bay Area/Los Angeles | Online
 
San Francisco Dons at Nevada Wolfpack (0-0-0)
Sunday, August 24, 2014 • 1 p.m.
Mackay Stadium • Reno, Nev.
All-time record vs. Nevada: 4-2-1
Last Meeting: Dons 2-0 (August 25, 2013 at Negoesco Stadium)
Live Stats: GameTracker
Live Stream: NevadaWolfpack.com
 
SAN FRANCISCO—Third-year Head Coach Jim Millinder and the Dons hit the road to kick off the 2014 season and look to mirror the early success from a year ago when they take on California and Nevada.
 
USF started off last season 5-2-2 with wins over Kansas, Nevada and Harvard but were unable to sustain that success deeper into the season. The Dons will be tested again this preseason with a number of NCAA Tournament teams on the preseason slate.
 
The first is California and they will meet on Friday at 5 p.m. on the Pac-12 Networks. The Dons faced last season and fell 3-0 at Negoesco Stadium. The team will then travel to Nevada, who USF opened last season against and beat the Wolfpack 2-0.
 
STARTING STRONG
The Dons are 4-1-1 in season openers since 2008, which includes wins over San Jose State and Fresno State. USF opened the season with Nevada last season and won 2-0 on goals from Mackenzie Krieser and Lexie Krueger.
 
NATIONALLY RECOGNIZED GOALIE
Madalyn Schiffel, who was named to the All-WCC honorable mention team last season, participated in the Team USA U-20 camp in April with some of the best college players in the country. She recorded six shutouts last season and had 10 other matches where she only allowed one goal.
 
CAL CONNECTION
Associate Head Coach Maite Zabala knows the Berkeley campus well. She played for the Golden Bears from 1997 to 2000 where she led them to three NCAA Tournament berths, a school-record 17 wins in 2000 and the program's only Pac-10 championship in 1998. She is Cal's all-time leader in career shutouts (26.5) and career saves (277) and was inducted into the Cal Athletics Hall of Fame in 2011.
 
DONS PICKED SIXTH IN WCC
San Francisco finished with 35 points and has been picked sixth in the WCC preseason poll. finishing behind BYU (73), Portland (72), Santa Clara (69), Pepperdine (57) and San Diego (54). BYU, who has won the last two WCC titles, finished at the top of the poll and was given three first place votes. Portland and Santa Clara also earned three first place votes with the remaining first place vote going to San Diego. Saint Mary's (29) is slated to finish seventh with Gonzaga (25), Loyola Marymount (20) and Pacific (16) rounding out the bottom of the poll.
 
RETURNING ALL-LEAGUE PLAYERS
The Dons have five returning players who have earned All-WCC honors and among those are three who earned honors last season. Madalyn Schiffel and Halle Bissin earned honorable mention honors and Jessica Nakae was selected to the All-Freshman Team. Jaciara Mello (2011 All-Freshman Team) and Mackenzie Krieser (2012 All-WCC Second Team) also return for the Dons.
 
ON PAC-12 NETWORKS
The Dons will play their one and only match on Pac-12 Networks when they play California on Friday at 5 p.m.
 
ABOUT CALIFORNIA
California reached the NCAA Tournament last season and finished the season 11-5-5 but will have quite a bit of transition this year. They bring in 12 freshmen and lost their starting goalie, Emily Kruger, and their second leading scorer, Kaitlyn Fitzpatrick. But they do return Ifeoma Onumonu, who led the team with eight goals and 19 points.
 
ABOUT NEVADA
The Wolfpack brings back eight of the 11 starts from a year ago, including Bobby Reilly who led the team in goals with five last season. However, this is a team that lacks in firepower, scoring only 17 goals in 2013, and finished 5-11-4 overall. Nevada is picked to finish ninth in the Mountain West.