SAN FRANCISCO – Squaring off against an opponent looking to play for the draw, the University of San Francisco women's soccer team was golden in their final game of the 2018 season.
Autumn Smithers banged home the game winning goal in the 92
nd minute to send the Dons home happy on senior night.
Offensively, USF (11-7-2, 4-3-1 WCC) had the advantage the entire evening. Saint Mary's (7-10-2, 2-6-1 WCC) was playing for the draw and had a bulk of their players sitting in the box keeping the Dons away from any shots in close range. USF outshot the Gaels 24-4, even more impressive was that the Dons put 12 of those shots on goal, compared to the one shot on goal by SMC.
Even with the shot advantage, SMC broke the scoreless tie late in regulation when Malia Allison took a pass from Anyssa Dominguez on the right side and sent a shot past keeper
Molly Eby with 81:10 on the clock. The Gaels were playing for the counter all evening and got their one shot at it.
The 1-0 advantage didn't last long however. USF countered immediately and had a player pulled down in the box giving the Dons a penalty kick.
Autumn Smithers sent the ball past SMC's keeper for her first of two goals on the evening, this one coming at the 81:38 mark.
With the score tied at 1-1 at the end of regulation, overtime would be needed to settle the result. Coming out of the break, the Dons took the ball up in front of their bench on the far sideline and earned a corner kick.
Ashley Humphrey sent a gorgeous pass into a big crowd in front of the SMC goal. Smithers got enough on it to beat the keeper and seal the win for the Dons.
With the win the Dons sent out their three graduating seniors out on a high note. In a pregame ceremony, USF honored
Cassidy Kaumeyer,
Lauren Marin and
Micaela Mercado who were playing their final collegiate game on Saturday night.
GAME NOTES
- With the win USF finishes the year 11-7-2. It marks just the fifth time in program history that the Dons have tallied 11 or more wins.
- Head coach Jim Millinder becomes just the second coach in program history to tally two 10-win seasons. He guided the Dons to 13 wins in 2015.
- At home, the Dons improved to 8-2-1, by far their best home record in the last 20 years.
- Autumn Smithers becomes the third player this year to record two goals in a game, Samantha Jehnings did it three times this year, Ashley Humphrey was the other player.
- USF finished the year with 35 goals on the year, 11 players scored at least one goal. Jehnings led USF with 11, Smithers, Miciah Madison and Humphrey all finished second with four goals.
COACH'S QUOTE
