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SAN FRANCISCO—The Dons found their way back into the win column behind goals from Jessica Nakae and Mackenzie Krieser to pick up the 2-0 West Coast Conference win over Saint Mary's on Sunday afternoon.
 
"We really did a nice job of attacking, solving it and making better choices," San Francisco head coach Jim Millinder said. "The game started to open up a bit more and when it opens up, we've got some players who can go up people and punish them."
 
The win moves the Dons (6-7-2, 2-2-0 WCC) into a three-way tie in fifth place in the WCC, only two wins out of first place as the team hits the road for matches at San Diego and BYU this week.
 
"We needed that win for our team's confidence," Millinder said. "I'm just looking one game at a time because momentum is a funny thing. When you can gain momentum, you can beat a lot of people."
 
Mackenzie Krieser was on the attack early for the Dons and put up two shots within the first 15 minutes of play but was thwarted by Saint Mary's goalkeeper Stephanie Busch.
 
The Dons continued to put pressure on the Saint Mary's throughout the first half and finally broke through in the 28th minute when Abigail Phillips played in Jessica Nakae in the box and Nakae fought through two defenders for the goal, giving them a 1-0 lead.
 
"She's had a great season," Millinder said of Nakae. "Her engine in the midfield is unbelievable."
 
San Francisco had seven shots and six corner kicks in the first half.
 
"I think we had some good looks in the first half," Millinder said. "It gets back to making the right choices in the final third. Jess made a great run out of the midfield, got a ball, cut to the middle and finished the chance. We had several good looks in the final third and it's all about that final pass, the final shot, the final run."
 
Saint Mary's nearly tied the game just after halftime when Jessica Castillo took a shot from the top of the box and hit bounced off the crossbar, ricocheted straight down and bounced a couple of times before Madalyn Schiffel could clear the ball.
 
It was one of the only clean looks for Saint Mary's on the afternoon.
 
Krieser had two more near misses but finally struck in the 82nd minute when she took her defender one-on-one and slid into the kick from about 30 yards out and it found the net to put the game away.
 
"Mack had some great runs and some great looks all day long," Millinder said. "It was good for her confidence."
 
It was the team's first multi-goal game since their 3-0 win over LIU Brooklyn on Aug. 31.
 
Schiffel recorded her fifth shutout of the season and the 14th solo shutout of her USF career, which ties the school's all-time record.
 
"They had a lot of possession in the final third," Millinder said. "I don't think they had a lot of great looks at our goal… It says a lot about what we're doing. We're playing well."