THIS WEEK
Match #3
San Francisco at Cal Poly
Friday, Aug. 26, 7 p.m. | Spanos Stadium  
Audio/Video Stream: www.gopoly.com
Live Stats | Video | Audio
 


Match #4
San Francisco at UC Santa Barbara
Sunday, Aug. 28, 1 p.m. | Harder Stadium  
Audio/Video Stream: www.ucsbgauchos.com
Live Stats 
 
Watch the 2016 Season Preview Video | Complete Game Notes [PDF]
 
The USF women's soccer team looks to continue the strong start to its 2016 season with a pair of road games against Big West opponents this weekend. The Dons will face Cal Poly on Friday evening with kickoff slated for 7 p.m. from Alex G. Spanos Stadium, followed by a 1 p.m. tilt at UC Santa Barbara on Sunday.
 
The Dons opened the 2016 season with a 2-1 win at home over Florida Gulf Coast on Friday night, followed by a 2-1 win on Sunday over UC Riverside.
 
Against Florida Gulf Coast, Amanda Whittle put the Dons up early with a penalty kick goal in the second minute. USF held off FGCU until Ali Rogers scored the equalizer in the 70th minute. However, Sonja Giraud came to the rescue when she bent in the game winner in the 76th minute.
 
On Sunday, USF fell into an early hole when UC Riverside's Tayler Dragoo scored in the 8th minute. The Dons rallied back with Giraud's equalizer in the 75th minute, followed two minutes later by Whittle's game winner.
 
The 2-0 start to the season earned the Dons their first-ever consideration in a national top-25 poll when Top Drawer Soccer included USF in its teams receiving votes this week, thanks in large part to the Dons' 2-1 win over Florida Gulf Coast, who came into that game ranked No. 24 by Top Drawer Soccer.  
 
The Dons are 1-2-1 against Cal Poly all-time after working a scoreless draw in last year's season opener. The Mustangs (1-1) split their two opening matches, falling 1-0 to No. 18 Cal on Friday and defeating Pacific 2-0 on the road on Sunday with Kelly Kessloff and Caitlyn Kreutz netted goals in the win. Cal Poly was picked to finish 5th in the Big West preseason poll.
 
UCSB holds a 7-4-1 edge in the all-time series, but USF won last year's meeting 1-0 at Negoesco Stadium. The Gauchos (1-0) topped Fresno State 3-2 on the road in their season opener this past week behind Amanda Ball's hat trick. The performance earned Ball Big West Player of the Week honors. UCSB was voted 2nd in the Big West preseason poll.
 
Looking ahead, the Dons will head back out on the road the following week when they travel to face a pair of SEC foes in Missouri (Sept. 2) and Vanderbilt (Sept. 4).