SAN RAFAEL, Calif. – Dominican women's soccer scored in each half to defeat San Francisco State 2-0 Sunday afternoon at Kennelly Field.

Natalie Haro and Michelle Salas Viniegra combined for the shutout with three combined saves as the Penguins (3-1-0) dominated the ball control for the game. Dominican outshot the Gators (2-2-0) 11-5 with a 4-3 advantage in shots on goal. 

The teams largely spent the first 25 minutes of the game battling in the midfield and looking for openings in the opponents formation. Dominican looked to have an early chance as a ball into the box ended up in front of the net with multiple players around it but no Penguin could get a strong foot to it and San Francisco State was able to clear the ball. Camille Aquino was the first to put a ball on frame as she created some space near the top of the box and ripped a shot towards the bottom left corner, but Cameryn Nunn made the save for the Gators in the 26th minute. Emily Gherlien-Allen gave SF State its first shot on frame in the 31st minute as she went bottom right but Haro was in perfect position to collect the ball.

It was all Dominican from that time on as a free kick in the 41st minute found the foot of Emma Wilson near the penalty shot but her shot sailed just high. One minute later, Jackie Lancaster chased down a ball along the right sideline and beat the defender to it to touch it past her towards the goal line. Lancaster then sent a cross into the box where Megan Clapinski made a perfectly timed run and leap to redirect the cross with her right foot into the back netting for the 1-0 lead at the break.

The Gators had two shots from distance that came right to Salas Viniegra in the center of her net to open the second half as Dominican continued to control the momentum. Ysabella Belandres then broke away down the right side, cut back towards the top corner of the box and sent a shot towards the net but the Gators breathed a sigh of relief as the shot went high of the cross bar in the 55th minute. Carmi Dotario and Araceli Mejia had similar strong runs behind the backline in the 63rd and 71st minutes respectively, but again the ball missed the frame. 

In the 76th minute, Wilson poked a ball away from a defender and found herself all alone along the left side as she drove inside the box and sent a low cross to a charging Ashlyn Hill who flicked the ball into the upper netting for the 2-0 lead. The Gators sent numbers forward trying to find a shot but the Dominican defense gave them no room and then created several quick counter opportunities for itself, but the lead held up the rest of the way.

The Penguins will head north to take on Sonoma State on Thursday at 2 p.m. PDT at Seawolf Soccer Field.