WSOC | Dons Stun Lions with Strong Second Half - University of San Francisco Athletics

Saturday, April 10

Los Angeles

1 P.M.

University of San Francisco

3-4-2, 2-4-1

Loyola Marymount

1-6-1, 1-6-0

Team	1	2	Final F
San Francisco	0	3	3
LMU	0	2	2

Freshman Marissa Vasquez scored two goals in the win over the Lions.

Photo by: Christina Leung

WSOC | Dons Stun Lions with Strong Second Half

4/10/2021 4:24:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Box Score

LOS ANGELES – The University of San Francisco women's soccer team came away with a thrilling road win thanks to three second half goals as the Dons stunned host Loyola Marymount 3-2 at Sullivan Field on Saturday afternoon.

After a scoreless first half that saw the Dons (3-4-2, 2-4-1 WCC) outshot the Lions 7-6, the offensive fireworks started in the 50^th minute for both squads. Loyola Marymount (1-6-1, 1-6-0 WCC) scored the matches' first goal in the 56^th minute on a goal by Sarai Zedingil.

The Dons finally got on the board in the 58^th minute when Marie Marlow scored her second goal of the season. Marlow was left open on the back post and senior Sydney Cooper found her. It was the first of two assists on the day for Cooper who had a tremendous afternoon.

The tie did not last long however. LMU retook the lead 17 seconds later when the Lions caught the Dons sleeping. Skyler Robledo gave the Lions the lead on an unassisted goal.

The score remained 2-1 in favor of the Lions until Marissa Vasquez took over. The Dons' freshman picked an excellent time to score her first two collegiate goals. She scored the equalizer on an unassisted goal in the 79^th minute to even things up at 2-2. Seven minutes later Cooper found her on a cross for the game winner.

"We went down a goal, we fought back, went down and came back. Great perseverance today," said head coach Jim Millinder. "Because of the heat and injuries, we were forced to use a lot of players. A lot of the freshmen stepped up big. I was just proud of the team. I thought we were just okay in the first half, but in the second half we did a better job possessing the ball and creating chances for ourselves."

USF opened up the bench on Saturday. The Dons used 19 players, with 16 of them playing at least 30 minutes. USF finished the day with a 18-15 advantage in total shots, with 11 of those coming in the second half.

Molly Eby (3-4-2) was sensational in the second half despite the two goals conceded. She finished the afternoon with five saves, four of them coming in the second period.

Taking the loss for the Lions was Kendyll Humphreys (1-6-1) who had seven saves on the day but could not keep the Dons out of the back of the net in the second half.

USF will return to action on Tuesday when they make the short trip to San Diego to take on the Toreros at 1:00 p.m. at Toreros Stadium. Tuesday's match will be streamed live on the WCC Network.