SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. - Hosting one of the top teams in the nation to begin the year, the University of San Francisco women's soccer team (0-1) impressed in their season-opening match on Thursday night as the Dons held No. 2 Stanford (1-0) scoreless for 79 minutes before ultimately falling, 1-0, on a late goal from Charlotte Kohler.
 
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

• Stanford began the match on the attack and got an offensive opportunity within the first two minutes of play, but Kira Ybarra started her career-night with her first save of the evening just 1:21 into action.
• Although the Cardinal continued to press throughout the first 45 minutes, Ybarra remained steady in the cage as the graduate student denied every shot on goal from Stanford in the opening half. By the break, the goalkeeper had accumulated eight saves as the match was scoreless (0-0) at halftime.
• Coming out of the locker room, San Francisco pushed down the field with purpose as Isabella Ayau recorded the first shot of the night for USF at 51:35 before Kaitlyn Sasadeusz followed up with her first attempt of the season at 52:21.
• As the half played along, Allison Kamansky raced down the pitch for her first shot attempt at 78:42, but the senior ultimately hit the top crossbar as USF narrowly missed a chance to strike first.
• Less than one minute later, freshman Charlotte Kohler took it herself on the wing before powering home her first collegiate goal at 79:36 to put the Cardinal on top, 1-0.
• Unable to piece together another offensive sequence down the stretch, No. 2 Stanford hung on following the late goal from Kohler to squeeze past the Dons, 1-0. 

NOTABLE PERFORMANCES:

• Enjoying a stellar night in goal, Ybarra finished with a career-high 13 saves against the Cardinal, besting her previous career-high of nine.
• Despite the loss, San Francisco held Stanford scoreless for 79 of the 90 total minutes on Thursday night. Last season, the Card finished ranked as the 28^th-best scoring offense in Division I. In total, Stanford tallied 54 goals for an average of 2.16 goals per game in 2023.
• With Pinder Nijjar logging his first match as a head coach, three new Dons tallied their first minutes in the green and gold against Stanford: Erika Braun (Gr.), Danica Lunceford (Fr.) and Clara Willet (Fr.). Additionally, Ella Hwang notched her first collegiate start on Thursday after missing all of last season with a knee injury.

POSTGAME WITH THE DONS:

• To view the full higlights of tonight's match, please click here.
• To view the full postgame interview with interim head coach Pinder Nijjar, please click here.

UP NEXT:
San Francisco will remain at home on the Hilltop this weekend as the Dons will host UC San Diego this Sunday, Aug. 18 at 4:00 pm. Live streaming, live stats and ticket links are available via 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 primary sponsor - Corona - for their continued support of San Francisco 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.