SAN DIEGO – San Diego generated plenty of offense and drew a penalty kick but were unable to find the finishing touch as the Toreros played to a, 0-0, draw in its season opener Friday night against UC Irvine.
 
Freddy Polzer drew a penalty kick in the 100th minute, weaving through two defenders before being taken down in the penalty box.
 
Miguel Berry stepped to the spot and drove a powerful shot to the lower left corner of the goal. However, the Anteaters (0-0-1) goalkeeper, Greg Patenaude, responded with an even better one-handed save to keep the Toreros off the board and send the match to a second overtime.
 
The Toreros (0-0-1) outshot UC Irvine 12-9 and held a, 4-1, advantage in corner kicks throughout the match. USD generated multiple scoring opportunities but they either went directly to Patenaude or were blocked by the Anteaters defense.
 
"I'm pleased with many aspects of how the game went, the first half in particular," said Brian Quinn who made his head coaching debut. "We created some half-chances in the first half and their goalkeeper made a couple saves. There were really good spells for us early and in the overtime. Unfortunately we didn't get the win but I have admiration for how the team played tonight."
 
USD centerbacks, Henry Lander and Aaron Frey, played all 110 minutes and limited UC Irvine's attack through the center of the field.
 
"Henry and Aaron were stellar for 110 minutes," said Quinn. "If you get that centerback tandem right it's a good foundation."
 
Matt Wiher made his collegiate debut in goal and made four saves.
 
There were a number of new faces with six players making their Torero debuts, including Wiher, Chris Tobler, Gustav Ericsson, Paul Ramlow, Taylor Perales and Alex Churness.
 
"I have no qualms about putting players in who are good enough," said Quinn. "There were a lot of positives with this game and we're on to UCLA now."
 
USD will look to secure its first victory next Tuesday at 7 p.m. PT when it travels to UCLA.