SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. - Earning her first career start, Kate Zimmerman scored the first two collegiate goals on Thursday evening as the freshman powered the University of San Francisco women's soccer team (4-4) to a comeback victory, 2-1, over San José State (0-6-2) at Negoesco Stadium.
 
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

• Starting the match on the attack, San José State struck first as the Spartans scored just 5:47 into the game on a goal from Bella Flocchini to take an early 1-0 lead.
• Less than two minutes later, Kate Zimmerman fired the first shot of the evening for San Francisco at 7:35, but the freshman was turned away by SJSU goalkeeper Shayla Sugai.
• As the half continued, the green and gold continued to press as Kaitlyn Sasadeusz, Isabella Ayau, Cade Mendoza and Alex Carpio would all record shots. Doing their part on the road, San José State held steady on defense to keep the Dons off the scoreboard through the first 45 minutes of action as the Spartans maintained their 1-0 advantage at the halftime break.
• Coming out of the locker room with a vengeance, San Francisco began the second half with shots from Sasadeusz, Lindsey Chau and Sydni Yoshida. Dancing through the defense a few moments later, Zimmerman found the back of the net for the first time in her collegiate career at 53:17 as the Sacramento native leved the score at 1-1.
• Shortly thereafter, Sasadeusz dribbled the ball out wide before she sent a cross to Chau near the goal, who then smartly passed it to Zimmerman inside the box. Beating the keeper for the second time in three minutes, Zimmerman punched home her second goal of the night at 55:56 to put the green and gold in front, 2-1.
• Defending their home turf for the remainder of the contest, Yoshida, Sasadeuz, Chau and Jackie Koerwitz kept searching for a third goal, but defense proved to be most effective for USF down the stretch.
• Fending off a final attack from the Spartans in the closing minutes, the Dons did not allow their visitors from the South Bay to find the equalizer they needed as San Francisco held on to take down San José State, 2-1.

NOTABLE PERFORMANCES:

• Shining in her first start at the collegiate level, Zimmerman netted her first two goals of her career on Thursday evening, including what proved to be the game-winner.
• Becoming more dangerous with each game, Sasadeusz led the match with six total shots overall, three of which came on target. Notably, this performance marks the fourth time in eight matches this season the sophomore has tallied at least three shots in a match as she now leads the team with 21 total shots on the season.
• As a team, San Francisco outshot San Joseé State 21-8, which included an 8-3 advantage in shots on goal.

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 Pinder Nijjar, please click here.
• To view the full postgame interview with Kate Zimmerman, please click here.

UP NEXT:
San Francisco will begin West Coast Conference action next Wednesday, Sept. 25 as the Dons will head south to San Diego for a matchup with the Toreros at 7:00 pm. Live streaming and live statistics are available via the team's schedule page.
 
FOLLOW US:
For updates and more information on the San Francisco 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 - Nike - 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.