University of San Francisco Athletics

Wednesday's game	Friday's game
Opponent: Saint Mary's (3-4-3, 1-0-1)	Opponent: Santa Clara (4-6-0, 1-1-0)
Location: Negoesco Stadium	Location: Santa Clara, Calif.
Time: 7 p.m.	Time: 7 p.m.
Coverage: USFDons.com/LIVE, Game Notes	Coverage: TheW.tv, Live Stats

 
SAN FRANCISCO—After starting league play in lackluster fashion, the Dons have an opportunity to quickly get some points back when they take on their longtime rivals Saint Mary's and Santa Clara this week.
 
San Francisco came out flat against Portland in its league opener and it was something Head Coach Erik Visser was not pleased about and voiced that displeasure to his team. The energy level raised in the second half of that game and was visible against Gonzaga on Sunday. Taking that into this weekend is critical for the Dons to get back into the WCC title race.
 
"You've got to win at home," Visser said. "We were fully anticipating to have two wins so for me it's not one point gained, we lost five points. Saint Mary's is a team that has been in the [NCAA] Tournament the last couple of years. They are a nitty gritty team. They don't beat themselves."
 
"If we come out with the same intensity like we did [Sunday], I think we have a good shot at it. If we come out like we did on Friday, I think it's going to be a long, long game."
 
AGUILAR LOOKING LIKE HIS OLD SELF
Junior Miguel Aguilar struggled in the early part of the season and saw a stretch of 11 games where he did not recorded a point, dating back to last season. He finally got out of that funk against Portland where he scored his first goal of the season and assisted on another. He had three goals last season on a team-high 56 shots.
 
HAUSER SOLIDIFIES GOALIE POSITION
Chase Hauser and Connor Gaal had been trading starts at goal in the preseason but Hauser has started the last three games and seems to have grabbed hold of the job. Hauser is 25th in the nation in save percentage (.825) and 12th in the nation in saves per game (5.50).
 
SCARCITY OF GOALS
San Francisco has scored two goals in its last four games and has scored nine goals on the season. The Dons have had chances but have not been able to take advantage of them.  
 
ABOUT SAINT MARY'S
The Gaels are about as balanced as a team there is in the conference. Goalie Andre Rawls is third in the WCC in saves and saves per game. They are also third in the conference in goal scored and have three players with two or more goals, including freshman forward Alex Branham who was named the WCC Player of the Week after scoring twice over the weekend.
 
ABOUT SANTA CLARA
The Broncos had a challenging preseason schedule coming into conference play, including games against No. 9 New Mexico and No. 1 California. They split their first two WCC games and were lit up by LMU on Sunday. Santa Clara was shutout 4-0 with three of the goals coming in the second half. Goalie Kendall McIntosh has allowed 14 goals in 10 games but has recorded three shutouts.
 
WCC GAME OF THE WEEK
The Dons' game at Santa Clara is the WCC Game of the Week and will be broadcast live on TheW.tv at 7 p.m. Friday night. It is the first of two games USF will have aired on the conference's digital network.