Sept. 26, 2011
SAN DIEGO, Calif.- UP NEXT: San Diego (3-4-0) vs. Loyola Marymount (2-6-0)
Wednesday, September 28th, 7:00 pm
San Diego, Calif. - Torero Stadium
San Diego (3-4-0) vs. Saint Mary's (1-3-3)
Friday, September 30th, 7:00 pm
San Diego, Calif. - Torero Stadium
LAST TIME OUT: The Toreros (3-4-0) lost to No. 8 UC Santa Barbara this past Friday in Santa Barbara, Calif. by a tally of 3-0. The Gauchos' Luis Silva recorded a hat trick with three goals on the night, while Dom Sarle assisted on two of the three scores for UCSB. The Toreros, who were outshot 14-7 in the match, were led by senior Stephen Posa's three shots. Torero keeper Adam Campbell had two saves but was saddled with the loss as he dropped to 3-3-0, while UCSB's Andre Grandt recorded his fourth shutout of the season and tallied four saves in the contest.
SCOUTING THE LIONS: Loyola Marymount comes into WCC play with a 2-6-0 record after falling to Wisconsin 2-1 on the road this past Sunday. The Lions, who were picked to win the WCC in the conference's preseason coaches poll, are led offensively by senior forward Artur Jozkowicz's three goals and one assist. Keeper Jack McCormack is 2-5-0 in goal this season with 28 saves and a 1.40 goals against average. Head coach Paul Krumpe is in his 14th season at LMU and sports a record of 119-108-29 during his tenure.
ON THE RECORD WITH LOYOLA MARYMOUNT: The Toreros are 24-11-3 all-time against LMU after split last season's matchups. USD fell to the Lions on Oct. 13th last season in Los Angeles with a 2-1 overtime loss but came back to earn a 2-1 home victory on Oct. 27th when LMU was ranked 24th.
SCOUTING THE GAELS: Saint Mary's is 1-3-3 on the year following a 1-0 loss at No. 3 Creighton this past Saturday. Justin Grider, Bobby Conner, and Justin Howard each have one goal this season, while Julian Godinez leads the team with 22 shots. Keeper Doug Herrick has 30 saves on the year to go along with three shutouts. Head coach Adam Cooper is in his sixth season at Saint Mary's.
ON THE RECORD WITH SAINT MARY'S: The Toreros are 24-8-4 all-time against the Gaels. USD took the season finale last year with a 3-2 victory over the Gaels at home after losing the season's first meeting in Moraga, Calif. with a 1-0 overtime loss.
OFF ON THE RIGHT FOOT: Since 2000, the Toreros are 6-4-1 in West Coast Conference openers, including a 3-0-1 mark when opening conference play at home during that span. The Toreros last opened WCC play at home in 2009 with a 1-0 shutout of San Francisco.
CENTER STAGE: The Toreros' 3-0 loss at UC Santa Barbara this past Friday was played in front of 13,772 fans, which was the fifth-highest attendance in NCAA regular season men's soccer history and the second-highest attendance for a regular season match at a campus venue.
FIRST OF MANY: Three different Toreros posted their first career goals in USD's 4-0 over Manhattan on Sept. 11th. 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 six 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 on Sept. 11th were the most they have scored in a single match since winning 4-1 over Loyola Marymount on Oct. 25th, 2009. USD also recorded back-to-back shutouts- against Penn (Sept. 9th) and Manhattan (Sept. 11th)- 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 and is tied for second in the WCC this season after recording three in back-to-back wins over Penn (Sept. 9th) and Manhattan (Sept. 11th) . Duke notched his first assist of the season in USD'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 the Toreros' 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.
IN THE MIX: Through the first six matches of the 2011 campaign the Toreros are tied for third in goals scored (9) and goals per game (1.29). Junior midfielder Christian Duke is tied for second in the conference in assists (3) as well, while senior goalkeeper Adam Campbell is third in the WCC in goals against average (1.07), allowing six goals in seven matches this season.
BOMBS AWAY: USD's 23 shots in their 4-0 win over Manhattan on Sept. 11th are the most a WCC team has had in a match so far this season. Also, their four goals in that contest are tied for the most goals in a match this year. Meanwhile, senior forward Stephen Posa and junior forward Patrick Wallen are fifth and sixth, respectively, in shots this season- Posa has 18 shots on the year, while Wallen is tied for fifth with 17.
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 USD'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.
