ON THE PITCH: The University of San Diego women's soccer team (5-4-1) will welcome University of San Francisco (4-6-0) and Santa Clara University (3-4-3) to Torero Stadium this weekend to open up West Coast Conference. USD and USF will kick off at 7 p.m. on Thursday, and the Broncos and Toreros will engage in battle at 7 p.m. on Saturday.

LAST TIME OUT: The Toreros had only one match last week, and took on Cal State Fullerton at home in the last non-conference match of the season. The match remained scoreless throughout most of regulation. As both teams geared up for overtime, senior midfielder, Danielle Gonzales, scored a literal last minute goal with 16 seconds left in the game, lifting the Toreros to a 1-0 victory.

SCOUTING THE DONS: San Francisco will battle San Diego after an up and down season, with a record of 4-6-0. All six of the Dons' losses have come on the road. Midfielder, Amanda Whittle, leads San Francisco's team with four goals this season. Close behind are Sonja Giraud with two goals and one assist, Jessica Nakae with one goal and two assists, and Micaela Mercado with two goals. Defending the Dons' goal is Sophomore Makayla Presgrave who has a goal-against-average of 1.94 and 58 saves this season alone. Coach Jim Millinder is spending his fifth season as the women's soccer Head Coach at San Francisco. Last season he was named the NSCAA West Coast Region Coach of the Year.

SERIES VS. SAN FRANCISCO: The Toreros have a strong 19-5-0 record against the Dons since their first matchup in 1992. At home specifically, they are 11-3-0 against San Francisco. Last time the two teams played, the Toreros lost 3-2 in double overtime. They are looking for redemption against the Dons this Thursday to continue their win streak.

SCOUTING THE BRONCOS: Santa Clara women's soccer team travels to San Diego with a season record of 3-4-3. Much like the Dons, the Broncos have had all of their losses handed to them on the road. Their top scorers are senior midfielder Jordan Jesolva with four goals this season, and senior forward Jenna Roering with three. They have two women protecting their goal - Melissa Lowder and Courtney Ogren. Lowder has played a majority of the time and has 21 saves, resulting in a goal-against-average of 1.00. Ogren follows in time on the field with 17 saves and a similar 1.01 goal-against-average. Head Coach Jerry Smith has led the Broncos for 30 seasons, bringing the team to 24 NCAA Tournaments, 19 of which were consecutive prior to 2008.

SERIES VS. SANTA CLARA: The Toreros' record versus Santa Clara is not as strong as it is against San Francisco. As of now they are 7-17-0 with only three wins at Torero Stadium. Santa Clara has 50 goals to San Diego's 26 in the series history.

NO GOAL FOR YOU: Freshman goalkeeper, Amber Michel, posted her fourth shutout of the season, in USD's thrilling 1-0 win over Cal State Fullerton this past Friday. With this shutouts, she has now lowered her goals-against-average to 1.33. Michel is now just three shutouts away from breaking into the top-10 single-season list for most shutouts in USD single-season history.

EVENING OUT: In the 10 games the Toreros have played this season, they've scored a total of 13 goals; however, they have allowed 14. Many women on the team have tallied one goal including Kelley Carusa and Julia Sherwood who also both have two assists. However, leading the pack is senior midfielder Jacqueline Altschlund with three goals and three assists. Close behind is Summer Mason who has scored two times and assisted in two other goals. In order for the Toreros to continue their success on the field, they need to keep their goals above those of their competitors.

TOREROS RETURN THREE ALL-WCC HONOREES: The Toreros are returning three All-West Coast Conference honorees from last season, highlighted by first-team selection, senior midfielder Jacqueline Altschuld. Also returning this season in Torero blue is senior striker Victoria Walker, who was an All-WCC honorable mention selection in 2015, and finally USD looks to its youth in sophomore forward Juilanne De Armas, who was an All-WCC freshman team honoree last season. Altschuld had a great junior campaign in which she scored four goals, and added in seven assists to a total of 15 points. Walker, a 5-10 forward Monte Sereno, Calif., also had a great season for USD, as she recorded six goals, and added in three assists for 15 points. De Armas, a 5-4 forward from Escondido, Calif., had a great rookie season for USD. She played in all 20 matches, with 13 starts. She scored a pair of goals and added in three assists for seven points.

TORROS TABBED SIXTH IN PRESEASON WCC POLL: Defending West Coast Conference champion BYU was again picked to win the 2016 title in the annual preseason poll of the WCC's 10 head coaches. The Cougars enter the season ranked No. 16 in the preseason NSCAA poll and shared the conference championship hardware in 2012 and 2013 before winning the title outright in both 2014 and 2015. USD was picked to finish tied for sixth. BYU earned 80 points and eight first place votes while No. 21 Santa Clara collected 71 points with two first place votes. Pepperdine earned 56 points to take third while No. 25 Loyola Marymount was fourth with 52 points. The Cougars, Broncos and Lions all represented the WCC in the NCAA postseason with all three teams earning at least one win in the postseason tournament. San Francisco was picked fifth with 50 votes, while San Diego and Portland tied for sixth with 44 points each. Saint Mary's (24), Gonzaga (19) and Pacific (10) rounded out the preseason poll.

I NEED STATS, STAT: All San Diego women's soccer home matches can be followed through Gametracker, on the Toreros athletic web site at usdtoreros.com. Gametracker is an up to the minute update of the action in real time scoring. Selected San Diego road matches are also available via Gametracker and Statbroadcast. To see if live stats are available for a match, go to San Diego women's soccer schedule page, and if any type of live stat is available, you will see those links there.

ABOUT THE SCHEDULE: The University of San Diego women's soccer team has announced their 2016 schedule. The Toreros will play 19 matches and will face five 2015 NCAA Tournament participants; Long Beach State, Cal State Fullerton, Santa Clara, Loyola Marymount, and BYU. The Toreros will be on their home pitch 10 times this season, highlighted by showdowns with cross-town rival San Diego State (9/2), WCC rival Santa Clara (10/15), four-time WCC champion BYU (10/21), and Portland on Nov. 11, in the final match of the season.

THE GREENWOOD FILE: Since taking over the San Diego women's soccer program in 2003, Ada Greenwood has upheld the rich soccer tradition that San Diego is known for and continues to build a successful and nationally recognized program. Just the third coach in USD's storied 24-year history, Greenwood has compiled an overall record of 139-107-22 in his 13 seasons at the helm. As San Diego's top assistant from 1998-2002, Greenwood helped USD to a 66-30-5 record and four NCAA College Cup appearances. Since taking over the reigns as head coach, Greenwood has guided the Toreros to nine NCAA Tournament appearances including five straight from 2007-11.