Vasquez Shines as Dons Shutout Gaels

Saturday, September 30

San Francisco, Calif.

6:00 p.m.

University of San Francisco

4-5-2, 1-0-0

Saint Mary's

6-3-2, 0-1-0

Team	1	2	Final F
Saint Mary's (CA)	0	0	0
San Francisco	2	0	2

Photo by: Christina Leung

9/30/2023 8:00:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Box Score

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. - Suiting up at home for the second straight week, the University of San Francisco women's soccer team (4-5-2, 1-0-0) continued their winning ways on Saturday night as the Dons opened West Coast Conference action by blanking Saint Mary's (6-3-3, 0-1-0), 2-0, at Negoesco Stadium.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

Firing her first attempt of the evening, Marissa Vasquez logged the first shot of the night for either side at the 4:37 mark, but missed just wide of the goal to open the contest.
Just over ten minutes later, Vasquez would get another opportunity following a corner kick as she ripped a shot into the top right corner of the cage to net the first goal of the game off an assist from Ellie Weissenberg.
After taking an early 1-0 lead in the 19^th minute, the Dons continued to press on the attack, which included a second goal from Vasquez just before the break. This time around, freshman Kaitlyn Sasaduesz delivered the assist to Vasquez, who then danced through the Saint Mary's defense to score for the second time in the half.
At the break, San Francisco held a 2-0 lead following the dominant half from Vasquez.
Shifting to a defensive focus in the second half, Saint Mary's battled in the second half as the Gaels would go on to outshot the Dons 9-2 in the period.
Despite Cade Mendoza and Gabby Rizzo missing their shots respectively, the green and gold locked down on defense when it mattered most, which included two huge saves from Kira Ybarra in goal down the stretch.
Using a team effort to close things out, San Francisco denied Saint Mary's throughout the second half as the Dons held on to secure their second win a row with a 2-0 victory over the Gaels. Notably, the win also marks USF's fourth clean sheet this year and their third in the last four games.

NOTABLE PERFORMANCES:

Breaking out in a big way, Vasquez record her third career brace with two goals against the Gaels. Notably, this performance marked her first multi-goal game since scoring a hat trick in last season's season-opening win at Portland State on Aug. 18, 2022. Notably, Vasquez also played the full 90 minutes for the fourth time this fall against SMC.
After impressing as of late, freshman Olivia Lukrofka earned her first collegiate start on Saturday night as the midfielder played 45 total minutes against the Gaels, tallying one shot in the process.
For Ybarra, the junior recorded her fourth clean sheet of the year while also logging four or more saves for the sixth time this season.

POSTGAME WITH THE DONS:

To view the full highlights of tonight's match, please click here.
To view the full postgame interview with head coach Jim Millinder, please click here.
To view the full postgame interview with associate head coach Pinder Nijjar, please click here.
To view the full postgame interview with Marissa Vasquez, please click here.

UP NEXT:
Hitting the road for the first time in conference play, San Francisco will head north to Spokane for a 6:00 pm battle at Gonzaga on Saturday, Oct. 7. Live streaming and live statistics links will be available the team's schedule page.

FOLLOW US:
For updates and more information on the USF women's soccer program, be sure to follow @USFDonsWSoccer on Twitter, @USFDonsWSoccer on Instagram and @USFDonsWSOC on Facebook.

MERCHANDISE:
Want to dress like the Dons? Get your official San Francisco Dons gear from the University of San Francisco bookstore today! Click here to purchase.

SPONSOR THE DONS:
The University of San Francisco Athletics Department would like to acknowledge and thank our sponsor - ABM - for their continued support of USF Athletics. Interested in sponsoring the Dons? Please contact Frank Allocco, the Executive Senior Associate Athletics Director of External Relations, at fallocco@usfca.edu or at (415) 422-4561.