ROCHESTER, Mich. - The USF women's soccer team notched a 2-0 shutout at Oakland on Sunday afternoon, giving the Dons (5-1-2) their sixth shutout in eight contests so far this season.

"It was a good result for our team today," said fourth-year head coach Jim Millinder. "Oakland is a solid, hard working team, very well-coached, but we jumped on them early. I thought we did a good job of dictating the tempo of the match and we possessed the ball really well. Our defense did a good job; our back four were solid all day. Overall, it's a good result getting the win on the road, which is difficult to do no matter where you're playing."

Despite being outshot by Oakland (0-4-4) 6-3 in the first half, USF made its chances count as Samantha Jehnings got the Dons on the board in the eighth minute when she used a Jessica Nakae pass to score her first goal of the year as she punched one into the lower left corner of the net, giving USF a 1-0 lead.

The lead stayed that way until just after halftime when Sonja Giraud notched her third goal of the year in the 48th minute. Jehnings set Giraud up with a pass into the middle of the box where Giraud used a slick dribble to open up an angle around her defender and fired a right-footed laser over the outstretched hands of Oakland keeper Allison Holland for the score.

In what has become characteristic of the Dons so far this season, USF displayed a stout defense throughout the contest. Most Oakland advances were met with a sea of white jerseys. On one of the few one-on-one chances for Oakland in the 53rd minute, Joan Sieja took a long pass from midfield down the left wing, but Leticia Torres faced up to Sieja inside the box and poked the ball away to diffuse the chance.

The Golden Grizzlies had two more chances that could have changed the complexion of the match had they converted. In the 55th minute, Alice Palmer opened up a sliver of space with a quick spin in front of the goal and fired a low bouncing shot that skipped just wide right past a diving Madalyn Schiffel.

Then, in the 72nd minute, Oakland appeared to have finally gotten on the scoreboard when Sieja knocked in a header that slipped just past a fully-extended Schiffel following a long pass down into the box, but the goal was waved off when Sieja was whistled for offsides on the play, preserving the Dons' 2-0 lead.

The Dons almost added to their lead in the 62nd minute when Camille Wilson nearly scored on a free kick opportunity. Wilson delivered a strike straight on from about 30 yards out that looked like it would tuck right under the top crossbar, but Holland was able to leap and pin the ball against the crossbar and prevent the goal.

Schiffel, who recorded five saves en route to her sixth shutout of the year, became USF's all-time leader in career shutouts with the win. Schiffel surpassed Amy Voiland with her 22nd career shutout.

Oakland held the overall edge in shots on the day by an 11-8 margin, and had a 4-3 advantage in corner kicks.  

USF returns to action on Tuesday, Sept. 15 when they travel to take on San Jose State at 4 p.m.