University of San Francisco Athletics

Box Score

SAN FRANCISCO—The Dons picked up the pressure in the second half and capitalized with two goals which lifted them to the 2-0 win over Air Force on Sunday afternoon.
 
"At halftime, that's what we told the guys," Head Coach Erik Visser said. "It was a good first half, we stepped up our line a little bit higher, we pressed their back to create a bit more turnovers."
 
In the 59th minute, Mauricio Diaz De Leon delivered a pass to Liam Kelly in stride and Kelly took his defender and drilled his kick past Air Force goalie Jake Schenk to give the Dons the 1-0 lead.
 
It was his first goal of Kelly's career.
 
Less than two minutes later, USF was on the attack again. Miguel Aguilar took a shot from the left side which was saved and the rebound was nearly kicked in by the back heel of Michael Shaddock.
 
An Air Force foul in the 69th minute gave USF a free kick and the Dons capitalized. Danny Kirkland drilled his shot from about 25 yards out to beat Schenk for his first goal of the season, putting USF up 2-0.
 
USF has scored four goals in its first two matches, something that was a focus for the team in the offseason.
 
"This team has a lot more depth than teams in the past, eventually it made a difference," Visser said. "We were able to maintain the pressure on them. The game opened up a bit for us."
 
Air Force had an opportunity to cut into the lead. USF goalie Connor Gaal came out to the top of the box to meet an Air Force shooter and the deflection went to Zach Modly whose quick shot at the empty net went very high.
 
Gaal recorded the shutout in his first collegiate start. This comes two days after Chase Hauser made his first start for the Dons and also collected a shutout.
 
"We're in a very fortunate position to have two very good Division I goalkeepers," Visser said. "They both had very good preseason and I told them on Thursday the only way to find out where they're at is to play them. They both got a shutout and I think that bodes really well when you have two quality goalkeepers."
 
NEXT MATCH
Thursday, Sept. 5
Opponent: Cal
Location Negoesco Stadium
Time: 7 p.m.
Coverage: USFDons.com (Video, Live Stats)