SAN DIEGO – Fresh off a season-opening victory on Thursday, the San Diego men's soccer program (1-0-0, 0-0-0 WCC) will clash with No. 6 Washington (1-0-0, 0-0-0 PAC-12) on Sunday at 4 p.m.
LAST TIME OUT
- Down a man and a goal 55 minutes into the game, the Toreros rallied for two goals in 14 seconds to defeat Seattle, 2-1, on Thursday afternoon.
- Mason Tunbridge opened the scoring on a feed from Cesar Bahena, before he set up Samy Kanaan for the winner shortly thereafter.
WHAT TO WATCH FOR
- The Toreros are seeking their 13th ever win over a top-10 in program history.
- Rhys Gourdie will return to action on Sunday after missing the opener due to a red card in last season's NCAA Tournament. The senior started 19 games for the Toreros last season.
- San Diego is aiming to become the first repeat WCC men's soccer champion since Saint Mary's in 2018 and 2019.
- Three players were recently selected to the WCC's All-Preseason Team, as Tunbridge, Trevor Dillon and Ross Johnstone led the way for the program.
- As a team, the program was picked to finish second, just two votes behind Portland, but with equal amounts of first place votes (four).
- Tunbridge has generated plenty of early-season buzz, being named a United Soccer Coaches Midfielder to Watch and being tabbed to TopDrawerSoccer's top-100 players in the nation.
- Head Coach Brian Quinn is also the reigning WCC Coach of the Year and will have six returning All-WCC contributors at his disposal in 2023.
- The incoming class of freshmen and transfers was ranked as the No. 20 class in the nation according to TopDrawerSoccer.
TORERO TIDBITS
- San Diego's two goals against Seattle are the most in a season opener since 2019.
- Denis Kelmendi's next game played will be the 50th of his career between San Diego and Seton Hall.
- The Toreros trail Washington 3-1-1 in the all-time series and resume an all-time series that has been dormant since 1998.
To stay up to date with Toreros men's soccer, follow the team on Instagram & Twitter by searching "USDmsoccer".
