In a year filled with historic firsts, groundbreaking victories and program-defining wins, the 2015-16 campaign provided its share of great games and memorable contests. Win streaks, record-setting games, postseason upsets and tightly contested victories over conference rivals made up some of the additions to our list of standout games from the year.

Here is a look at some of the key games from each season:   
 
FALL
Women's Soccer
First Win Over Santa Clara
A monumental season of firsts included the Dons' first-ever win over perennial WCC power and rival Santa Clara with a 1-0 upset at Buck Shaw Stadium on Oct. 4. The Dons snapped a 31-game winless streak against the Broncos – who were ranked No. 19 at the time - when Samantha Jehnings converted a penalty kick try in the 21st minute for the game's only score. From there the USF defense adapted to absorb a vicious Santa Clara attack that outshot the Dons 9-2 in the second frame. Madalyn Schiffel made a number of diving stops to help stem the tide and preserve the shutout, her WCC-leading seventh at that time.
 
Dons Take Down No. 5 BYU
The Dons' historic 2015 campaign kept on rolling with a 2-1 upset over No. 5 BYU in front a raucous Thursday night crowd at Negoesco Stadium on Nov. 5. The Cougars took an early lead in the 15th minute and held off USF until a Micaela Mercado penalty kick evened the game at 1-1 in the 71st minute. The Dons outshot BYU 10-2 in the second half as their pressure finally resulted in Jessica Nakae's game-winner in the 82nd minute when she knocked in a loose ball in front of the net. The victory was the Dons' first-ever over a top-10 opponent.
 
Men's Soccer
Going Down to the Wire at Santa Clara
The conference season got off to a wild start in Santa Clara on Oct. 11 as the Dons pulled out a 2-1 win over the Broncos where all three goals were scored over the final eight minutes. After playing to a scoreless stalemate through the majority of the contest, Santiago Digiuseppe netted the go-ahead goal in the 82nd minute. However, the lead would be short-lived as Santa Clara evened it on a penalty kick in the 86th minute. Then, with less than a minute remaining in regulation, David Garrett scored on a breakaway with the help of a long pass from Digiuseppe to net the game-winner.
 
Men's Cross Country
Short Shuttles Dons to Seventh
In their first away meet of the season, the Dons traveled to Minneapolis for the Roy Griak Invitational. USF's NCAA individual qualifier Alex Short impressed, taking fifth individually to lead the Dons to a seventh place finish in the 23-team field. USF placed five runners in the top 50 as Matt Leach (30th), Mohamed Aziz (37th), Edward Shepherd (41st) and Ryan Driscoll (42nd) all had strong showings for the Green and Gold.
Following the Griak Invitational, the Dons were awarded for their performance by the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association with the No. 7 slot in the West Region rakings, the highest regional ranking in program history.
 
Women's Cross Country
Running to the NCAAs
The Dons emerged in late October, taking third place at the West Coast Conference Championships as Elena Burkard (4th), Weronika Pyzik (5th) and Charlotte Taylor (8th) secured spots on the All-WCC First Team and paced the squad to the solid finish, just five points out of the top spot on the podium. The confidence boost leading up to the NCAA West Regionals, propelled USF to one of its best performances of the season. Freshman phenom Pyzik took eighth overall with Burkard and Taylor landed in the top 25 as the squad finished fifth – just enough to secure an at-large bid to the NCAA Championships, their third appearance in the last five years. USF closed the season on the national stage with a 28th place finish in the race.
 
Volleyball
Let's Go Streaking
The Dons were one of the final seven unbeaten teams in the nation after racing through the non-conference slate with an unblemished mark of 13-0. The hot start was just the second in school history, bested only by the 2003 Dons who opened up the season 15-0 en route to the program's first NCAA tournament bid. USF took two tournament titles on the home court of War Memorial at the Sobrato Center along with sweeping through the competition at the Utah State Invitational and St. John's Kaiser Classic. Through the first 13, the Dons dropped but five set points.
 
 
WINTER
Women's Basketball
Taking the Title
After a sixth-place finish in the regular season, the Dons marched through the top three seeds in the league to earn its fourth NCAA appearance in school history and the first in 19 years. USF didn't make the trip to Las Vegas an easy one. Against No. 3 San Diego in the quarterfinals, the Dons had to rally from a 12-point third-quarter deficit before claiming the victory in dramatic fashion after a miracle three off the hand of Taylor Proctor banked in for the score and the tie to send the game to overtime. In the semifinal contest against No. 2 Saint Mary's, the margin was seven at the close of the third quarter but the Dons managed to rally for the one-point lead with 10.4 seconds to play. The Dons' defense thwarted the last-possession plans of Saint Mary's as Anna Seilund got a hand on the inbounds play and Zhane Dikes recovered the rock for USF.
 
For the final game of the week in Vegas, USF saw No. 1 BYU up by 15 as the first quarter wound down. The Dons wouldn't climb into the lead until there were just 17.2 seconds to play. Proctor cleaned up the defensive glass after a missed 3-point attempt for the Cougars, and yet another defensive stop sealed the deal as Dikes' steal at the buzzer made the confetti rain for the Dons.
 
A Decade in the Making
On a day when USF honored its 1996 Sweet 16 team, the 2015-16 San Francisco women's basketball team made a place for themselves in program history as well. The Dons scored the first bucket of the game and never trailed to earn a big 71-52 win over the Bulldogs on Jan. 30. The victory was their first win over the 11-time WCC defending champions since a West Coast Conference tournament win on March 2, 2006. The 19-point deficit stands as the largest of the season for Gonzaga, who also fell at Saint Mary's at Feb. 28 by the same margin.

Men's Basketball
Upset Bid Falls Short
USF gave 24^th-ranked Gonzaga all it could handle for 32 minutes in the first match-up between the two teams on Jan. 3 before falling in overtime, 102-94. The Dons led by 16 points at 74-58 with 8:49 remaining when Gonzaga went on a 24-5 run to take a 82-79 lead with 20 seconds left in regulation. Tim Derksen gave the Dons new life and hope with a clutch three-pointer from the top of the key that sent the game into overtime, however, Gonzaga outscored USF 20-12 in the extra period to come away with a hard-fought eight-point victory. Despite the final result, it was one of the most entertaining conference games of the season.
 
Magnificent in Malibu
The Dons avenged an earlier season loss to Pepperdine with an 82-72 victory over the Waves in Malibu on Feb. 18. Ronnie Boyce matched his career high with 25 points while Devin Watson finished with 21 as the Dons surpassed the previous year's win total with their fourth straight victory in venerable Firestone Fieldhouse. Tim Derksen chipped in 18 while Uche Ofoegbu added 12 to help the Dons to their most satisfying win of the season.
 
In the game against the Zags, the USF defense held their opponents to 28.1 percent shooting, while the offense was pouring in points at a 40 percent clip. Zhane Dikes, Taylor Proctor and Anna Seilund each came away with double-digit scoring efforts in the contest.
 
 
SPRING
Men's Track and Field
Splendid at Stanford
Cobb Track and Angell Field on the campus of Stanford was a spot for record times and qualifying marks for the men around the track. Opening up the month of April at the Stanford Invitational, Hugh Nicklason raced to a USF record and a fourth place finish in the 800 meters, and notched another fourth in the 1,500 at the meet. Matt Leach and Alex Short both ran to NCAA berths in the 10,000 m, taking 14th and 18th, respectively, with sub-30 minute times. Three weeks later on the same track, Nicklason notched his second record at the Stanford Twilight, qualifying for the NCAA Prelims in the 1,500 meters.

USF finished the season with a program-high four men representing the Dons at the NCAA West Region Preliminary Championships, with Ryan Driscoll joining the fray after qualifying for the 3,000 meter steeplechase at the Mt. SAC Relays in record-breaking fashion.
 
Women's Track and Field
Splendid at Stanford, Part 2
Not only were the men's fortunes fabulous at Stanford, the women felt right at home on the Cardinal track as well. All three of USF's regional qualifying times were set at Stanford: Kate Jamboretz' 1,500 meter qualifying mark coming at the Payton Jordan Invitational, Weronika Pyzik's 5,000 meter mark was set at the Stanford Twilight and Charlotte Taylor ran the 12th fastest 10,000 meter time in the West Region at the Stanford Invitational. In addition, freshman hurler JoJo Ananouko set a school best in the javelin at the Payton Jordan.
 
The trio of Jamboretz, Pyzik and Taylor all competed at the NCAA Prelims, with Taylor qualifying for the Championship round in Eugene, Ore., where she took 17th in the nation in the 10K.
 
Taylor's appearance marks the third time in the last four years that the Dons were represented in the 10K finals, joining 2014 All-American Jana Soethout (2013, '14), and six of the last seven NCAA Championships have had at least one athlete from USF.
 
Beach Volleyball
Poll Position
In its inaugural season as an NCAA-sanctioned sport, the Dons enjoyed their best year on the beach in program history. USF finished the season with a 16-5 mark, which included three wins over nationally-ranked Pacific. USF set the tone for the year with a 3-2 win over the Tigers in the season-opener on March 5, and again battled Pacific to the 3-2 win on March 15, when both teams found themselves in the rankings. The Dons entered at No. 13 with the Tigers in the 18th slot, and USF rallied for the win with points at the Nos. 1, 2 and 3 positions to clinch the match. In the first-ever WCC Championship contested in the sport, USF earned a 4-1 victory to advance to the second day of competition on the beaches of Santa Monica. The Dons would go on to finish the season ranked 15th by DiG Magazine.
 
Baseball
Giarratano Notches Win No. 500
18^th-year head coach Nino Giarratano became just the third coach in WCC history to amass at least 500 career wins when the Dons posted a 6-5 victory over BYU on May 12 behind Ryan Matranga's walk-off sacrifice fly in the bottom of the ninth. Both teams went back-and-forth with the lead through the middle innings. Aaron Ping and Ross Puskarich each homered for USF, but it was Matranga's sac fly with one out and the bases loaded that plated Beau Bozett for the game-winner.
 
New Benedetti Diamond Opens Its Doors
The brand new home of Dons baseball was unveiled when the Dons hosted New Mexico on April 13 in their first official home game of the year. After playing their previous 34 games either on the road or at alternate sites around the Bay Area, the Dons finally got to enjoy their much-anticipated home facility. Despite the 12-3 loss to the Lobos, nearly 400 fans witnessed the ballpark's first game, one of the best turnouts of the season. Matt Sinatro took the honor of registering the Dons' first hit in their new home, while Ross Puskarich went 3-for-3 and Allen Smoot collected two hits with a pair of RBI to help christen the new grounds.     
 
Men's Golf
Strong Finish at Desert Mountain
USF shot a blistering 12-under round of 276 to jump five spots up the leaderboard to secure a sixth place finish at the Desert Mountain Intercollegiate. The Dons final round 276 was the lowest round of the tournament and lowest of the day by seven strokes in the warm and breezy conditions on Desert Mountain's Outlaw Course.
 
Women's Golf
Two Titles Highlight Year
Tournament titles at the Rose City Intercollegiate and the Sacramento State Invitational highlighted the year for a rapidly improving program that climbed into the top-60 in the national rankings. Paced by a closing round 68 by medalist Vanessa Ha, USF overcame a five-shot deficit on the back nine to post a two-stroke victory over Oregon State at the Rose City Intercollegiate at Langdon Farms Golf Club outside of Portland.
 
The Dons earned their second win of the season at the Sacramento State Invitational, where USF finished 18-strokes ahead of second-place Nevada. Ha defeated Colorado's Amanda Myers in a two-hole playoff to earn her second individual title of the year.
 
Men's Tennis
Taming the Broncos
For two schools just 45 miles apart, Albuquerque, New Mexico seemed like an odd locale for a dual match between local rivals USF and Santa Clara. After securing the doubles point, USF won three tightly-contested singles matches to turn back Santa Clara, 4-3 in the Mountain Pacific Invitational. Trailing 2-1 in the match, wins by Nils Skajaa and Ryan Marker gave the Dons a 3-2 edge, however, the Broncos knotted the match with a win at No. 3 singles. All eyes then turned to the match between USF's Worivan Kumthonkittikul and Sebastian Mathieu on court No. 6. The back-and-forth match went to a third set tie breaker, with Kumthonkittikul prevailing to give the Dons a 4-3 victory.
 
Women's Tennis
A Sweep Followed By a First
USF played its best tennis of the season in early April, reeling off consecutive wins over Portland, Gonzaga and San Diego.
 
The Dons rallied from a 2-1 deficit against Portland with wins on courts No. 1, 5 and 2 to post a 4-2 victory over the Pilots. The Dons had to dig deep in all three of their singles victories as Andrea Ka, Sofia Holmberg and Thyra Taune all dropped the first sets of their match before staging memorable comebacks.
 
The Dons carried over the momentum into its match the next day against a Gonzaga team which would go onto to finish second in the West Coast Conference standings behind Pepperdine. Trailing 2-1 in the match, the Dons secured wins at the No. 1, 2 and 4 singles positions for the 4-2 victory. Shanna Dos Santos provided the match clincher with a 5-7, 6-3, 7-6 (3) win over Alex Bourguignon on court No. 4.
 
USF made it three in a row with another come-from-behind victory over San Diego, marking the Dons first-ever victory on the Toreros' home court. After dropping the doubles points, the Dons turned in a dominant performance in singles play with straight set wins on courts No. 4, 2, 5 and 1 to secure a 4-2 victory. Andrea Ka sealed the match with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Marta Stojanovic.