Sept. 13, 2011
SAN DIEGO, Calif.- UP NEXT: San Diego (3-2-0) vs. UCLA (2-2-1)
Sunday, September 18th, 5:00 pm
San Diego, Calif.- Torero Stadium
LAST TIME OUT: The Toreros (3-2-0) posted back-to-back shutouts with a 1-0 win over Penn this past Friday and a 4-0 victory over Manhattan this past Sunday, both at home. Senior midfielder Charles Blase scored the game-winner against Penn on Friday when he took a cross from junior midfielder Christian Duke in the 38th minute and converted it into his second career goal. Against Manhattan, four different Toreros scored goals, including sophomore defender Elijah Galbraith-Knapp (33'), junior midfielder Conor McFadden (54'), redshirt junior defender Sean O'Connor (68'), and freshman forward Sean Klauer (69'). Duke assisted on two of the four Torero goals on the day as USD outshot Manhattan 23-5 to earn their third consecutive win.
FIRST OF MANY: Three different Toreros posted their first career goals in Sunday's 4-0 over Manhattan. Sophomore Elijah Galbraith-Knapp scored the first goal of the match in the 33rd minute, followed by redshirt junior Sean O'Connor's goal in the 68th minute and freshman Sean Klauer's strike in the 69th minute. Overall, five different Toreros have already notched their first career goals in USD's first five matches. Freshman forward Joey Dei Rossi notched his first score on Sept. 2nd in a 4-2 loss to Drake, while redshirt sophomore midfielder Daniel Meade recorded his first in USD's 2-1 victory over San Diego State on Sept. 4th.
PILING IT ON: The Toreros' four goals scored in their 4-0 shutout of Manhattan this past Sunday were the most they have scored in a single match since winning 4-1 over Loyola Marymount on Oct. 25th, 2009. USD has also recorded back-to-back shutouts for the first time since last season when they defeated Gonzaga 1-0 on Oct. 11th, 2010 and Saint Mary's 2-0 on Oct. 16th, 2010.
LENDING A HELPING HAND: Junior midfielder Christian Duke leads the team in assists this season after recording three over USD's last two matches. Duke notched his first assist of the season in Friday's 1-0 win over Penn when he hooked up with Charles Blase for the game-winner in the 38th minute of action. Duke then followed that up with a pair of assists in Sunday's 4-0 shutout of Manhattan, teaming with Elijah Galbraith-Knapp for the match's first goal in the 33rd minute and then later finding Sean O'Connor in the 68th minute to put USD up 3-0.
LEADING THE PACK: Through the first five matches of the 2011 campaign the Toreros are leading the West Coast Conference in points (25) and are tied with Santa Clara for first in goals scored (9). Junior midfielder Christian Duke is tied for the conference lead in assists (3) as well, while senior goalkeeper Adam Campbell leads the WCC in goals against average (0.53), allowing only two goals in four matches this season.
BOMBS AWAY: USD's 23 shots in this past Sunday's 4-0 win over Manhattan are the most a WCC team has had in a match so far this season.
SCOUTING THE BRUINS: UCLA enters the week with a record of 2-2-1 on the year after earning back-to-back 2-1 home victories over Saint Mary's this past Friday and Loyola Marymount this past Sunday. The Bruins came in just outside of the NSCAA Top-25 but received 42 votes in the coaches poll. Junior forward Chandler Hoffman paces the Bruin offense with four goals on the season, while senior defender Shawn Singh leads the UCLA with two assists. The Bruins are coached by Jorge Salcedo, who is in his eighth year at UCLA.
ON THE RECORD WITH UCLA: The Toreros are 5-20-4 all-time against UCLA, having lost the past two contests. In the teams' last meeting on Sept. 19th, 2010, then-No. 17 UCLA won 3-2 in double overtime in Los Angeles, Calif. The Toreros are looking for their first win over UCLA since 2005 when USD upset the then-No. 6 Bruins 4-2 at USD.
STAR WATCH: The Torero offense returns 2010 West Coast Conference Player of the Year Patrick Wallen. The junior from Vasteras, Sweden led the conference in goals last season with 12, while also pacing the conference in points (25) and game-winning goals (5). His 12 goals and 25 points last year were each the second-most in a single season in WCC matches in conference history. Wallen was the WCC Freshman of the Year in 2009 after leading the team in goals (7) and points (19). So far in 2011, Wallen has one goal and one assist for a total of three points. He scored his first goal of the season against Drake on Sept. 2nd and tallied his first assist in this past Sunday's 4-0 victory over Manhattan when he helped setup Conor McFadden for a score in the 54th minute.
RECAPPING 2010: The Toreros wrapped up the 2010 campaign with a record of 9-7-3 (6-4-2 WCC), good for fourth place in the WCC. Sophomore forward Patrick Wallen and senior defender Cory Norris earned first-team All-WCC honors, while junior forward Stephen Posa took home second-team honors after scoring two goals and adding four assists. Elijah Galbraith-Knapp was named to the WCC All-Freshman team after starting 18 of the team's 19 matches.
TOREROS TABBED SECOND IN WCC PRESEASON POLL: The University of San Diego men's soccer team was picked second in the 2011 West Coast Conference preseason coaches poll. The Toreros garnered 27 total points, trailing only Loyola Marymount, who was voted first with 36 total points and six first place votes. In third was Santa Clara with 26 points, followed by Portland with 21 points, and Saint Mary's in fifth place with 19 points and one first place vote. Rounding out the poll with a tie for sixth were Gonzaga and San Francisco, each with nine points.
WALLEN AND POSA EARN PRESEASON ALL-WCC HONORS: The Toreros placed two players on the preseason All-WCC team with junior forward Patrick Wallen and senior forward Stephen Posa. Wallen (Vasteras, Sweden) was last season's WCC Player of the Year and a first-team All-WCC selection after leading the conference in goals scored (12), points (25), and game-winning goals (5). Posa (San Diego, CA) was a second-team All-WCC selection last season after tallying a pair of goals and four assists.
FRESH FACES IN 2011: The Toreros add nine newcomers to this year's roster, including seven freshmen and two transfers to go along with the 17 letterwinners returning. This year's freshman crop consists of defenders Austin Dunn (Auburn, CA), Thomas Fiskerstrand (Aalesund, Norway), and Callum Whittaker (London, England), forwards Joey Dei Rossi (Campbell, CA), Sean Klauer (Sammamish, WA), and Alex Gallagher (Billings, MT), and midfielder Shane Thompson (Las Vegas, NV). Redshirt sophomore forward Blake Milton (Spring, TX) transfers to USD this season from SMU, while junior defender Ernesto Jimenez (Santo Domingo, D.R.) joins the Toreros by way of Western Michigan University.
HEAD COACH Seamus McFadden: Entering his 33rd year at the helm, Seamus McFadden holds a career record of 321-239-56 at USD. McFadden joined the 300-win club in 2008 and has earned seven West Coast Conference Coach of the Year honors (`00, `99, '98, '95, '94, '92, '86) during his tenure at USD. He has guided the Toreros to six WCC championships and 12 NCAA tournament appearances after taking over in 1979 at the origin of the USD men's soccer program. As the all-time WCC wins leader, McFadden has coached eight NSCAA All-Americans, 141 All-WCC honorees, and 16 WCC Players of the Year. In 1992, McFadden led the Toreros to a 19-5 record and an NCAA Championship final appearance against Virginia. McFadden, a native of Donegal, Ireland, played soccer at San Diego State, graduating in 1976 with a degree in History.
CATCH THE ACTION: Fans can follow all the Torero soccer action all season long by clicking on the Gametracker link or the "Watch Live" link on the team's schedule at www.usdtoreros.com. USD will also be appearing live on the Fox Soccer Channel for the NSCAA Game of the Week when they take on Portland on Friday, October 7th at 7:00 pm in Portland, Ore.
