SAN FRANCISCO – A pair of goals in the late in the second half was the difference as visiting Saint Mary's defeated the Dons 2-0 on Tuesday afternoon at Negoesco Stadium.
 
USF (2-3-2, 1-3-1 WCC) was outshot 11-10 on the day by the Gaels and was held scoreless for just the third time this season. The Dons got five shots from Ashley Humphrey and three shots from Marissa Vasquez but USF could not find the back of the net.
 
Saint Mary's (2-4-2, 2-3-1) scored their two goals in the 70^th minute by Malia Allison and Emily Jensen.
 
"It was a tough game. Give credit to Saint Mary's they battled and they outworked us," said head coach Jim Millinder. "We talked prior to the game about what their strengths are, we don't want to give up unnecessary corner kicks and we gave up a corner kick goal.  We've got to learn from it. We've got some younger players out there but there's still no excuse. We've got to finish chances. We got some decent looks in the second half. Our conference is good, everyone is good. On the day you've got to show up, you've got to battle and execute in the final third and we didn't do that today."
 
The first 45 was mostly uneventful. The Dons spent most of the half with possession of the ball on the Gaels half but was unable to put a ball in the back of the net.
 
USF outshot the Gaels 4-2 in the first half and finished with a 3-0 advantage on corner kicks. In the 26^th minute USF had its best chance to go out front when Humphry blasted a shot from the top left corner of the box towards goal, but the Gael's keeper Taylor Poland knocked it away for the first of her four saves on the day.
 
Coming out of the break, the Dons defense continued to do a tremendous job of stymying the Saint Mary's attack.  However, as the contest went on the Gaels began to take the momentum. SMC finished the second half outshooting the Dons 9-6.  They also had a 5-3 advantage on corner kicks.
 
The second half corner kicks is where the Gaels pressed their advantage. Saint Mary's broke the 0-0 tie in the 70^th minute when Malia Allison sent a high arching pass from the far corner towards the Dons penalty area. Maya Alcantara settled under it and knocked a header past Eby for the games' first goal.
 
Saint Mary's tacked on an insurance goal seven minutes later when another corner kick resulted in a scrum in front of the Dons' goal. Emily Jensen eventually corralled the loose ball and chipped it to the back of the net to give the Gaels a 2-0 advantage.
 
USF attempted to up the offensive pressure but USF could not solve the puzzle of Poland (2-4-2). She tallied three saves late, including a pair of heroic saves to earn her second shutout of the season. Eby (2-3-2) takes the hard luck loss.
 
USF will return to action on Saturday when they host Santa Clara. Saturday's game is slated for a 1:00 p.m. start time. Charles Wollin will have the call on the WCC Network.