Women's Soccer October 01, 2004

USD WOMEN'S SOCCER KNOCKS OFF #3 WASHINGTON 2-1

Oct. 1, 2004

(San Diego, CA) - The USD women's soccer team turned in an outstanding performance this evening at Torero Stadium with their 2-1 upset victory over the 3rd-ranked and previously unbeaten Washington Huskies. The win improves USD's mark to 5-6-1 while the Huskies fall to 8-1. USD junior forward Lee Klopschinski (Upland, CA) was credited with the game-winner early in the 2nd half after both squads battled to a 1-1 halftime tie. Klopschinski's hard cross actually glanced off a Huskie defender and curved around UW goalie Kelsey Rasmussen in the 46th minute of play.

"I feel we were the better team tonight and deserved what we got," said 2nd-year head coach Ada Greenwood. "The overall performance was fantastic. It was a collective great effort on the girls part. We need to enjoy the moment but then come back and get ready for a very good Utah club on Sunday. This is a great morale booster for our team and it gives us a lot of confidence."

The win is coach Ada Greenwood's biggest victory to date, and matches the program's best victory over a ranked team - USD beat No. 3 Santa Clara in their WCC opener back in 1996 by the score of 3-1. Last year's squad earned two wins over ranked teams with victories against #12 Arizona State and #20 LMU.

The Toreros got on the scoreboard first in the 29th minute when freshman Amy Epsten headed in a cross from Marie-Claude Henry. Epsten, who had entered the game in the 25th minute, notched her team-leading 7th goal of the season. The visiting Huskies knotted the score at 1-all in the 38th minute with Nikki Gamble's cross deflecting off a Torero defensive player into the net.

"This is a turnaround game for us," said an excited Marie-Claude Henry. "We know we have a good team and hopefully we can continue to get the big results. This feels really good but we have to take it one game at a time from here on out."

The Torero defense was solid all night and did an outstanding job checking Husky forward Tina Frimpong. Frimpong did get a solid shot off in the 80th minute that glanced off the crossbar. For the game USD outshot Washington 11-7, including a 7-4 edge in the 2nd half. UW goalie Kelsey Rasmussen was credited with 4 saves.

USD returns to Torero Stadium this coming Sunday with a 12:00 p.m. match against Utah (6-2-1 record prior to Friday's match against UCLA).

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