MORAGA, Calif. - The Gaels enter the last two weeks of the regular season and will play their final game at Saint Mary's Stadium this Saturday as they take on the Dons of San Francisco. The team will also honor their nine seniors pregame as they play their final home game of their Gaels career. Saint Mary's is fresh off of a 3-1 victory over Gonzaga the week prior, scoring the most goals in a single-game this season. They will look to finish the year on a high note and capture their third WCC win on the season.
GAME INFORMATION AND COVERAGE
GAELS OUTLOOK
The Gaels have continued to fight all season long and their efforts paid off with a dominant 3-1 victory over Gonzaga last weekend. Freshman midfielder
Cesar Batres got the scoring started with a stunner from outside of the box for his first collegiate goal. The Texas native has started in 13 games as a true freshman and has been one of the team's most consistent players all year long. Gonzaga would equalize just five minutes later but
Owen Benson would break the tie in the 44th minute with his first goal of the season.
Saint Mary's went on to outshoot the Zags 19-9 and after peppering the goal all afternoon, they would score the dagger in the 90th minute off the right boot of Wade MuttitT for his team leading fourth goal of the season. The Gaels offense has recorded double digit shot attempts in three of their last four games, scoring seven goals during that stretch.
The season could look very different for head coach
Adam Cooper and his squad as they have six ties on the year, just one less than their loss total, and only two losses in conference play. No team in the bottom half of the WCC standings has less than three losses as the Gaels enter the final two weeks of the season with a 1-2-3 conference record. Saint Mary's is currently riding a six-game win streak over San Francisco dating back to 2018 as they will look to send their seniors off with a win in their final home match of the season.
ABOUT SAN FRANCISCO (WCC)
The Dons have had a very interesting season but have played their way into third place in the WCC standings with a 3-1-2 conference record. They started off the year in tough form, winless in their first seven games with an 0-5-2 record. With the season starting to head in the wrong direction, they flipped a switch and responded with a three-game win streak securing victories over San Jose State, Pacific and Gonzaga.
With the three wins, the Dons would go on a well timed six-game unbeaten streak going 5-0-1 during that stretch. They would also start WCC play with a 3-0-1 record and sit atop of the league standings. Before the home stretch of the regular season, they would host 2nd ranked Stanford in their final non-conference match of the season and shutout the Cardinal for the thrilling 2-0 upset.
Since then, they have gone 1-1-1 in conference play and sit in third place behind Oregon State and now 3rd ranked San Diego. The Dons will look to hold on to that third place finish for their first top-three league finish since 2017 when they were crowned WCC champs with a 6-1-0 record. Gabriel-Bracken Serra and Brayden Beason lead the team with four goals each while Eric Waltz has been the starting goalkeeper as of late, recording 27 saves and a pair of shutouts on the year.
Saturday's game will be streamed live on ESPN+ and tickets can be bought online at smcgaels.com/tickets. Be sure to follow your Gaels on Facebook, Instagram, and X to get all the latest Saint Mary's athletics updates and information.
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