Women’s Cross Country: Five Time Champions!

Dahlberg’s First Place Finish Catapults Dons to Fifth Consecutive WCC Championship

     On a beautiful Saturday morning in Malibu, Calif., the Dons rolled to their fifth straight West Coast Conference title in fashion. Heading into to the meet ranked 17th in the nation, the Dons were met with big expectations, and meet them they did.USF dominated the 6,000-meter race right from the get-go, as graduate student Bridget Dahlberg and senior Maor Tiyouri were in first and third by the first split. Dahlberg went on to place first in the field with a time of 20:55, while Tiyouri crossed the finish line with time of 21:20, which was good for sixth place.Other Dons dominated the field as well, with four USF runners placing in the top 10. Redshirt seniors Sophie Curl and Eva Krchova finished in eighth and tenth place, respectively, and were awarded First Team All-WCC honors along with Dahlberg and Tiyouri. Junior Kate Jamboretz was an All-WCC Honorable Mention. The win was the culmination of the hard work that had been put into the regular season, and was something for players and coaches to relish in.

“Obviously, it’s really exciting to win our fifth, and it doesn’t really seem like that many,” head coach Helen Lehman-Winters told USFDons.com. “It all goes so fast. We came into the championships knowing that this was a really important meet for us. Winning five is really all about the people we have in our program and the standards that they’ve set. I attribute this success to them.”

Even as the day was clearly a successful one for the Dons, it wasn’t completely free from suspense. Trailing Portland’s Laura Hottenrott into the final stretch of the match, Dalhberg surged to a comfortable lead, and it looked as if the Dons were headed towards a certain victory. However, Hottenrott would come back to regain the lead and come dangerously close to taking first place. But digging deep, Dahlberg used her final kick to surge into the top spot, and ended up beating out Hottenrott by three seconds.

“I just think the team had a great performance today and nothing stops momentum. This is a great start before [regionals],” Dahlberg told TheW.tv’s Amanda Blackwell.

With the win, the Dons find themselves in a groove heading into the NCAA West Regionals, which will take place on Nov. 15 at Haggin Oaks Golf Course in Sacramento, Calif.

Men’s Soccer: Dons Hang Tight, Stumble Late in Overtime Loss at Stanford

Zach Batteer netted a 97th-minute goal, and the Stanford Cardinal put their stamp on a gripping 2-1 win over the University of San Francisco on Friday night at Laird Q. Cagan Stadium. It was a game that saw two teams that have had mixed success go head to head and try to claim a much-needed win. Taking control early on, Stanford (7-4-2) dictated the flow of the game as they had the majority of possession and were able to get into Don territory early and often. Stanford’s Ty Thompson lead this charge, and was able to get a large share of the touches as the offense ran through him in the first half. Thompson even initiated the offense that saw Stanford take a 1-0 lead in the 64th minute, as a feed to Stanford’s Jordan Morris created a shot attempt that was cleaned up by Batteer, his first of two goals on the game.

Even as the Cardinals were able to maintain control of possession following Batteer’s goal, all it took was a loose ball for sophomore midfielder Jesus Del Toro to tie the game in the 78th minute, putting the Cardinals on their heels and Dons in a comfortable position.

“After Jesus scored we had more possession and we were pushing to score another goal,” sophomore defender Joshua Smith said.

After that, the home crowd became increasingly nervous as the Dons (5-7-2) began to start banging on the door, pushing farther and farther into Cardinal territory. Although regulation ended with a 1-1 tie, the break in play did not seem to stifle any momentum the Dons had acquired in the last few minutes of play, and their captivating performance continued as both teams got quality looks at the goal. Stanford keeper Drew Hutchins made a spectacular save that kept the Cardinals in the game, and USF goalkeeper Chase Hauser saved a one-timer from Cardinal JJ Koval. But Stanford’s relentless attack in the second half eventually paid off, as Batteer would get his foot on the ball off of a rebound in the seventh minute of overtime, sending it into the goal to give Stanford the victory.

Friday’s game marked the end of four-game road trip that saw the Dons go 2-2, and also represented their final inter-conference game. Despite the loss, the Dons looked sharp and ready to play out the remainder of their WCC stretch, as they seemed to have rebounded from their midseason sluggish play and have picked it up on both sides of the ball.

“Since our home game against Saint Mary’s, our guys have responded terrific,” Visser told USFDons.com. “They played well, organized, created some good opportunities late in the game. We told the guys, ‘Let’s get back to the basics and compete.’”

With 6 games remaining, beginning with their Nov. 3 matchup at home against San Diego, the Dons will soon be able to see how far they’ve come.

Volleyball: Zaloznik Named WCC Player of the Week

It was a close match, but team leader junior middle blocker Valentina Zaloznik, last week’s WCC Player of the Week, and the rest of the Dons were able to hang on for dear life to pull out a victory against the University of Pacific. USF defeated the Tigers (11-9, 4-5 WCC) in five sets, 26-24, 25-21, 19-25, 18-25, 15-8, on Saturday, Oct. 18 at War Memorial Gym.

The Dons, who are now 9-10 on the season and 5-4 in conference play, were coming off a big win against Bay Area rival St. Mary’s on Thursday. Senior outside hitter/ middle blocker Malina Terrell and freshman opposite/outside hitter Katarina Pilepic led USF to the four set, 25-21, 17-25, 25-23, 2518 victory against the Gaels. San Francisco is one of just four WCC teams above .500 so far this season. On Saturday, the first two sets were anything but controlled as the lead went back and forth, foreshadowing that the Dons would be in it for the long haul.  Sensing a distinct rhythm that USF got into time and again, Pacific called several timeouts in the first two sets, but this was to no avail as the Dons were able to outlast the Tigers to go up 2-0.

Whatever Tigers Head Coach Greg Gibbons said to refocus his squad before the third set did the trick, as they marched out to an early 6-1 lead that the Dons never overcame. The lead see-sawed back and forth again in the fourth set, with the Tigers eventually holding on at the end to tie it up at 2-2.

Sensing a change in momentum that included two questionable calls by the referees, the Tigers looked like they were in prime position to win in the fifth set. However, the experience and demeanor of the Dons were too much for the Tigers to complete the comeback.
“It was not the first time this year that we have faced the fifth set so we knew what we were heading into,” Zaloznik said. “We knew we had to set up our game and fight back.”

The Dons did just that, as they held off Pacific 15-9 in the fifth set. The Tigers were looking to improve to their WCC record to 5-4 with the win, but the defense and hitting power of the Dons was simply too much for the Tigers to handle, as the dynamic duo of Zaloznik and Terrell posted 36 kills, leading an unstoppable Dons attack. Blocks were key for the Dons as well, exhilarating the crowd and helping the team at pivotal moments.

“We got some huge blocks in perfect timings,” said Zaloznik.

With the help of these well-timed blocks, the Dons were able to pick up their fifth WCC win and gather some momentum heading into their next match, which will be against Santa Clara on Friday, Oct. 25 at 6:30 p.m. at War Memorial Gym.

 

Women’s Soccer: Dons Play Well But Can’t Find Victory in WCC Opener at St. Mary’s

That’s the way it goes sometimes. In a game that opened up West Coast Conference (WCC) play for the Dons, USF was unable to walk away with a win, falling 1-0 to the St. Mary’s Gaels in Moraga, Calif. on Oct. 5.

Starting off heavily pressured by the Gaels, the Dons (5-5-2, 0-1-0 WCC) were unable to gather a sense of rhythm, making it difficult for the tandem of junior forward Mackenzie Krieser and freshman forward Lexie Kreuger to establish any sort of connection together to attack the net. The brief moment of assault in the first half came during the 34th minute when Krieser found Krueger with just feet separating her and the goal, but she was unable to get the shot off as defenders swirled around her and cleared the ball.

The aggressive nature of the Gaels (5-7-0, 1-0-0 WCC) paid off in the 37th minute when St. Mary’s sophomore Jaime Turrentine was able to intercept a pass and dump it off to freshman Mary Fraser, who, with a couple of touches, blasted a 30-yard laser that ended up in the back of the net, putting up the Gaels up 1-0 in the first half.

With Fraser’s first goal of her collegiate career, St. Mary’s was put in the driver’s seat for the rest of the match. Maintaining the aggressive style of play that the put them in the lead, the Gaels had several chances to extend their advantage, but the defensive play of USF’s sophomore goalkeeper Madalyn Schiffel kept the Dons in contention for the entire match. She helped put the team in a position where they could trust their defense enough to play less conservatively later on in the second half.

The Dons kept knocking on the door as junior midfielder Abigail Phillip’s cross in the 77th minute almost connected with Krieser, but the shot went wide and the Gaels were able to ward off the Dons’ 14 shots on goals and pick up the win in the process.

“They scored a lucky goal in the first half and we dominated the rest of the game. That’s soccer,” Head Coach Jim Millinder said to USFdons.com. “That’s probably the best 2×45 [two 45-minutes halves] we’ve played all season but that’s just the way the game worked out sometimes.”

It was a frustrating loss that came despite the exhibition of Krieser’s playmaking brilliance, but Millinder is confident things will turn around for the talented Dons team.

“Soccer’s a funny game,” he said to USFdons.com. “They kids got to keep working hard and do the right things. They’re doing the right things. At some point things will change. At some point that little round thing will roll over the line.”

The Dons won’t have to wait long for that ball to run over the line, as they will fight for their first WCC win at home tonight against No. 22 BYU at Negeosco Stadium at 7 p.m.