SAN DIEGO – In an eight goal thriller, two Gonzaga goals in the final four minutes stole points from the Toreros in a 3-5 loss for San Diego on Wednesday night.
San Diego falls to 2-6-4 on the season, 0-2-1 in WCC league play. Despite a disappointing result by the final whistle, the Toreros can find several positive takeaways from the offensive battle.
Sophomore goalkeeper
Ilise Medrano collected eight saves and is now ranked third in the WCC in save percentage and saves per game. Junior forward
Josefine Schlichting has a goal contribution in two of the last three matches while sophomore forward
Tamia Graham has one in three of the last five.
How it Happened
The Toreros opened the scoring with their first first half goal in seven games as senior forward
Sara Evans received an excellent through ball from Graham and snuck it by the goalkeeper in the fifth minute.
As would become the theme in the match Gonzaga answered. In the 15
th minute Emelia Warta finished a tap-in inside the six-yard box. The Bulldogs jumped to a 2-1 lead with a score on a rebound by Marissa Garcia in the 22
nd minute.
The Toreros clapped back, however, as Schlichting, fresh on as a substitute got on the end of a cross from freshman defender
Ella Callanan, tucking it away in the 32
nd minute.
After coming back on the field for the second half tied, Gonzaga reclaimed the lead in the 57
th minute as Kylie Jones scored off a Warta assist.
San Diego's Kylie, junior midfielder
Kylie Smith answered the call, equalizing on a 25-yard first time strike that lasered off the post and in the 76
th minute.
The game would remain tied despite the Bulldogs drawing a penalty in the 80
th minute, which Chelsea Le missed wide of the frame. Le would redeem herself, however, striking from outside the box into the top left corner out of Medrano's reach.
In desperation for a last-minute equalizer, the Toreros pulled Medrano for a corner kick which the Zags capitalized on by going the length of the field and scoring an empty-netter with 15 seconds remaining to settle the score at 5-3.
Match Notes
First year head coach Greg LaPorte continues to break USD droughts in his program turnaround
- It was the Toreros first first half goal in seven matches
- It was San Diego's first time scoring two plus in the first half since Sept. 2, 2021
- It was USD's first three-plus goal match since Aug. 26, 2021
- USD will be in search of its first WCC win under LaPorte and first since Oct. 15, 2021
- The Toreros last home win was on Aug. 25, 2022. Their next opportunity will be against Oregon State on Oct. 12.
Up Next
San Diego hits I-5 northbound for a tie with Loyola Marymount on Wednesday, Oct. 9 at 7 p.m.. The match will be streamed on ESPN+ and additional coverage and updates can be found at the @USDWSoc social media pages.
