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USF Women' Soccer Blanks Hawaii 1-0
Oct. 27, 2004
(San Francisco) - Junior midfielder Stephanie Gray scored her fourth goal of the season to lift USF women's soccer to a 1-0 shutout of visiting Hawaii on a crisp evening of non-conference action at Negoesco Stadium. With the victory, the Dons (9-6-3) collect their fifth blanking of the season at the expense of the Rainbows (12-6-2), who played their regular season finale.
USF and Hawaii battled through a scoreless first half of physical soccer and neither team was able to capitalize on goal scoring opportunities. Both teams missed an open net and the Dons clanged a shot a post. After 45 minutes of action, Hawaii held a 5-4 shot advantage.
San Francisco controlled play for the early part of the second half and struck for the first and only score of the match at the 52:23 mark as Gray's strike beat the keeper to the near post off a nice feed from sophomore midfielder Hilary Fisher, her second of the season.
After the Dons scored Hawaii stepped up the pressure, but USF's defense came through against a talented and fast Rainbows squad. Although UH held a 4-2 shot advantage in the second half, San Francisco did not break.
Senior goalkeeper Stephanie Beall (9-6-3) tallied her fifth shutout of the year, 12th of her career and collected five big saves for the Dons. Senior keeper Erin Chow suffered the loss for Hawaii and did not collect a save in the contest.
"I am really proud of this team," USF head coach Pamela Kalinoski said. "My entire defense shut down a very fast and talented Hawaii team. The team just worked hard tonight. It's great for Stephanie Gray to get a big goal like that for us. Stephanie Beall once again did a great job keying the defensive effort and provided great leadership for us.""
Kalinoski was also impressed with the way her team competed in their third match in five days.
"I'm really proud of the girls because they came out with renewed passion and enthusiasm for the game. They found a way over the course of the game to get better from the beginning to the end and they're working well as a team," Kalinoski said.
USF returns to action when they travel to the Pacific Northwest Saturday, October 30 to take on #4 Portland in West Coast Conference play. Match time against the Pilots is scheduled for a 7:00 PM start at Merlo Field.
NOTES: The nine wins for USF are the most since the team went 9-10-1 in 2001... with five saves in the contest Stephanie Beall now has 193 in her career...the goal for Stepahnie Gray was the first game-winner in her career and second of nine career goals recorded against Hawaii.
