MORAGA, Calif. — Saint Mary's put up a hard fight during their senior day on Saturday but Gonzaga's single goal in the second half was enough to overcome the Gaels in a 1-0 decision.

HOW IT HAPPENED
The first half of the contest was highly defensive as neither team put up the goal through the 45 minutes of action. The Gaels posted four shots in the half, including one from Nayeli Diaz who had a solid opportunity to score on the near side of post in the 37th minute but Gonzaga's goalie made the save to prevent Diaz from putting SMC on the board. 

Gonzaga finally broke the scoreless tie in the 75th minute as Samantha Heilman lofted a shot off the fingertips of Sarah Sawatsky and into the opposite side netting for the go-ahead goal. Sawatsky played all 90 minutes of the game and was only forced to make three saves, which represented her season-high.

The Gaels' defense prevented the Bulldogs from scoring on multiple occasions as Gonzaga recorded 19 shots during the match. On the offensive end, Saint Mary's tallied five total corner kicks in the game, with three of those coming within the final few minutes of the contest.

Prior to the match, Saint Mary's honored their seven seniors, Sarah Sawatsky, Kailana Kaeo, Sophie Santos, Jaylen Crim, Jessica Ko, Anna Parker, and Jordyn Cunningham. 

THOUGHTS FROM TRAVIS CLARKE

• "Gonzaga is a really good team this year and it was good for us to compete like we did for the entire match. We had some good chances and our girls fought all game. It was unfortunate to give up that goal but we fought all the way to the whistle. We will look at video and start to prepare for the next game."

UP NEXT: SANTA CLARA

• Saint Mary's will host Santa Clara on Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. for their final home match of the season.