MORAGA, Calif. - After a week break for the women's soccer team, the Gaels are staying in Moraga to take on USF Saturday, Oct. 19th at 3:00 PM. Saint Mary's has a 21-14-2 all time record against the Dons, with USF winning the last two match ups in their home field. The Gaels are looking to get their first win against the Dons since 2021 at Saint Mary's Stadium.
GAME INFORMATION AND COVERAGE
Date: Saturday, October 16th
Time: 3:00 PM
Location: Saint Mary's Stadium, Moraga
Live Stats: Click Here
Live Stream: ESPN+
GAELS RECAP
On Saturday, October 12th, Saint Mary's took on Gonzaga where there was immediate action on the field with a shot attempt by the Bulldogs and SMC keeper
Kate Plachy with a save. Quickly after their first attempt, Gonzaga scored in the ninth minute.
Between the 31st and 41st minute, Saint Mary's leading scorer
Tessa Salvestrin attempted four shots. Two of her attempts were saved by Gonzaga keeper Camyrn Cruz, another saved by the Zags defense.
With a changed mindset, SMC was determined to be on the board. In the 58th minute, the Gaels earned a corner where the ball landed into the box. The Gonzaga defense cleared the ball out of the box, where it landed at the feet of
Khalia Gathright. Gathright made the perfect pass into the box to Salvestrin where she controlled the ball with her chest and shot the ball right above the goalkeeper's head. This is Savestrin's seventh goal of the season and will tie her for second most goals in the West Coast Conference.
Saint Mary's best attempt was in the second half with
Emma Barthel making a long pass to Salvestrin to the left side of the box. Salvestrin tries to get past her defender, with room, she shoots off the touch. The Gonzaga goalkeeper had to leap over to the opposite side of the goal to put both hands on the ball.
To close out the game, both teams remained fairly close with the Zags out shooting SMC 13-12 and 7-5 shots on goals. Salvestrin finished the match with six shot attempts, Plachy ended with six saves, tying her highest saves in a match, and all 18 Gaels that traveled saw the field with three who played the full 90 minutes.
ABOUT USF
The Dons are currently sitting at a similar record as the Gaels, where USF has a 4-6-2 overall record, 0-2-2 in conference. The Dons are looking to get their first conference win under their belt as they have come up short to No. 12 Santa Clara (4-0) and Oregon State (2-0), and tied San Diego (1-1) and Portland (0-0).
Freshman midfielder Kate Zimmerman has helped lead the Gaels to a 201 comeback victory over San Jose State on September 19th, where she later earned the West Coast Conference Player of the Week. Zimmerman is the Dons second leading scorer with two goals of the season where she trails Sophomore Kaitlyn Sasadeusz with three goals.
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