MORAGA, Calif. -- In a season of historic milestones, the USF women's soccer team added another one to the list with their 2-1 victory at Saint Mary's on Sunday afternoon: USF established a new program-best by winning their 13th match of the season. The Dons (13-3-3, 7-1-0) surpassed their previous season-high win total of the 1994 squad that went 12-6-1 overall.
"We came out and played and that's what we wanted to do," said fourth-year head coach Jim Millinder. "Great goal for the first one. We changed the point of attack and Alex hit Say Jay with a beautiful back post ball and she finished it. It was our second game in three days and it's tough to get yourself back up to play again, but it was just a great team effort today."
The Dons got out to an early lead when, in the seventh minute, Alex Alugas sent in a cross from the right wing that found Samantha Jehnings open in the box. Jehnings was able to slip one past Gael keeper Julia McDonald for her team-best seventh goal of the year.
Camille Wilson then helped the Dons move ahead 2-0 when she was fouled and awarded a free kick from the top of the penalty arc in the 17th minute. Wilson converted the chance with a shot that arched just over the lined-up SMC defense into the left corner of the net, giving Wilson her fourth score of the season.
After starting out slow, SMC (7-8-4, 2-4-2) put more pressure on the Dons over the final 15 minutes of the first half, eventually outshooting USF 7-5 in the period.
The USF defense held strong with a Saint Mary's corner in the 23rd minute that got deflected past USF keeper Madalyn Schiffel, but luckily Halle Bissin was there in front of the net to boot it away for the save.
Coming out in the second half, the Gaels thought they'd gotten on the board when Hannah Diaz scored in the 48th minute, but the goal was negated by an offsides penalty against SMC.
Eventually the Gaels cut into the Dons' lead when Samantha Dion slipped a shot underneath Schiffel's glove inside the six-yard box to make the score 2-1 in the 74th minute.
Right after that, Jessica Nakae narrowly missed out on giving USF some breathing room when her blast from 30 yards out banged off the left post.
The USF defense held firm despite a strong push by Saint Mary's in the closing minutes.
"They're a great team," said Millinder. "It's tough to come over here and get a result. Anybody in the conference can beat anybody. It's all about being able to create chances and having the ability to finish them, and then defensively we have to do a good job of clearing pressure and we did that today."
USF held a slight 11-10 edge in shots on the day, along with a 5-3 advantage in corner kicks.
Schiffel registered five saves in goal for the Dons.
With LMU's loss to BYU on Saturday, the Dons are now in charge of their own destiny in the WCC title race, which will come down to the final game of the year. With 21 points, USF will head into the regular season finale sitting alone in first place needing either a win or a draw at Portland to capture their first-ever WCC championship.
"I want these kids to taste what it's like to go to the NCAA Tournament and win a WCC championship," added Millinder. "They've worked so hard for four years, I just want them to understand what hard work accomplishes."
The Dons close out the regular season at Portland this Saturday with kickoff slated for 7 p.m. from Merlo Field. The Pilots came into Sunday's matches at 6-11-0 overall and 2-5-0 in the WCC.
