COMING UP:
San Francisco Dons (2-9-0, 0-0-0) at Santa Clara (5-6-0, 0-0-0)
Sunday, Oct. 11, 7 p.m. | Stevens Stadium (6,800)
Series Record: USF leads, 30-25-11
Last Meeting: USF won, 2-0; Nov. 15, 2014 at USF
Coverage: Live Stats | TheW.tvComplete Game Notes [PDF]SAN FRANCISCO -- The Dons (2-9-0) will kick off their WCC schedule with a road contest at Santa Clara on Sunday with kickoff slotted for 7 p.m. from Stevens Stadium. Looking ahead, the Dons will return to Negoesco Stadium for just their fourth home match as they continue WCC play on Oct. 16 when they host Pacific, followed by another home match against Saint Mary's on Oct. 18. LAST TIME OUT: The Dons are coming off a 3-0 loss at No. 21 New Mexico on Sept. 30. The Lobos scored in the 18th and 29th minutes and benefitted from a USF own-goal in the 43rd minute when a cross deflected off a Don defender in the box and into the net. USF was outshot 17-10 in the match, and the Lobos held a 5-1 edge in corner kicks. Davi Ramos paced the Dons' offense with six shots, three of which were on goal, while Santiago Digiuseppe added a pair of shots, one on frame. Ryan Buckingham got the start in goal for USF, his first since Aug. 30 at West Virginia, and recorded two saves on the night. NOTES AND TIDBITS• Hunter Ashworth will miss the next few weeks as he joins the New Zealand U-17 national team in the FIFA U-17 World Cup in Santiago, Chile • The Dons' match at No. 21 New Mexico on Sept. 30 was their third against a ranked team this season• Bryce Kaminski netted his first goal of the season and second of his career in a 3-1 loss at UC Davis (Sept. 27); Kaminski became the seventh Don to score this year• After his goal against CSU Bakersfield (Sept. 24), Sean Bowman joined Davi Ramos, Aaron Lombardi and David Garrett as the Dons with multiple goals this season; each player has two• Their match against CSU Bakersfield (Sept. 24) was the Dons' first overtime contest of the season• No Dons have started all 11 matches this year, but Manny Padilla, Christian De Luna and Hunter Ashworth are the only ones to have started 10 of the 11 contests• Andre Glasnovic recorded seven saves in a 3-1 loss at UC Davis (Sept. 27), his second-highest total of the season• Andre Glasnovic's nine saves at Stanford (Sept. 18) were the most for a USF goalkeeper since Chase Hauser saved 10 against San Diego on Nov. 9, 2014• Andre Glasnovic is the first freshman to start in goal for the Dons since Brendan Roslund in 2009• Davi Ramos leads the Dons with 24 shots on the year; Santiago Digiuseppe is second with 16• Christian De Luna has logged the most minutes on the pitch for the Dons this year (874)
SNAPSHOT: SANTA CLARA (5-6-0, 0-0-0)
The Broncos are coming off a 2-0 loss at No. 7 Akron on Tuesday...Carlos Delgadillo is second in the WCC with nine points on the year (4 goals / 1 assist)...SCU is being outscored 14-9 and outshot 124-111...2-1 against common opponents to USF: lost 2-1 to Cal State Fullerton; defeated UC Riverside 2-1 and Cal 2-1.
USF VS. THE WCC
The Dons went 5-2-0 in WCC play last year, but 6-3-1 against WCC opponents overall, en route to a second-place finish. The 2014 season marked the first year the WCC went away from the home and away meetings between each conference opponent; instead each WCC team met just once officially, while some teams played conference opponents more than once without those extra matches counting as official WCC contests. USF played San Diego (W, 2-0), LMU (L, 1-0) and Santa Clara (T, 1-1) in "unofficial" WCC matches last year. For the 2015 season, each WCC team will meet just once for seven total conference matches.
ON THE WORLD STAGE
Freshman defender Hunter Ashworth has been selected to join the New Zealand U-17 national team as the All Whites participate in the 2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Santiago, Chile. Ashworth is expected to miss at least the next few weeks with the Dons as New Zealand competes in group play Oct. 19-25. Ashworth is one of two players on the squad who hail from countries outside of New Zealand.
OPEN UP THE FLOOD GATES
The Dons' five goals scored against La Salle on Sept. 6 were the most USF has scored in a single match since a 6-0 win over Sacramento State on Oct. 3, 2003. Aaron Lombardi scored a pair of goals to notch his second-career multi-goal performance (Oct. 19, 2014 vs. Gonzaga), while Davi Ramos enjoyed his first-career multi-goal match with his two goals on the day.
STEP RIGHT UP
Freshman keeper Andre Glasnovic posted wins in his first two career starts during the Dons' home-opening weekend. Glasnovic stepped in for his first-career start on Sept. 4 and helped the Dons shutout Canisius by making four saves, including a number of point-blank chances that Glasnovic was able to prevent. He followed that up with four more saves in USF's win over La Salle, his only goal allowed coming on a penalty kick in the 38th minute.
TARGET ON THEIR BACKS
The Dons had the dubious honor of being picked to win the WCC title this season, as voted in the WCC Preseason Poll. USF captured two first-place votes, but was one of five teams to receive first-place votes, along with Saint Mary's (1), San Diego (2), LMU (2) and Santa Clara (1). The Dons finished in a tie with Saint Mary's for second place in the 2014 final standings.
BLAZING THE TRAIL
Second-year head coach Eddie Soto has no qualms with taking his team on the road to build a strong non-conference schedule in 2015. USF will only enjoy six contests at Negoesco Stadium this year, but will face five NCAA Tournament teams from 2014 (Penn State, Stanford, Cal State Fullerton, San Diego, Cal). The Dons will also travel to face five teams ranked in the NSCAA Preseason Top-25: No. 23 Penn State (Aug. 28), No. 8 Stanford (Sept. 18), No. 16 Cal (Sept. 20), and Cal State Fullerton (Sept. 13) and New Mexico (Sept. 30), who were both receiving votes.
BLUE CHIPS
Second-year head coach Eddie Soto and his staff made strides in building on last year's second-place WCC finish by going out and piecing together one of the nation's best recruiting classes. The Dons' 2015 class, made up of 12 newcomers (3 transfers/9 freshmen), was ranked No. 41 in the country by College Soccer News over the summer.
Â
