SAN DIEGO — Bouncing back off a draw, the No. 15 San Diego men's soccer team (7-1-3, 1-0-1 WCC) responded back in conference play by scoring five goals against San Francisco (5-3-1, 0-2-0 WCC) winning 5-1 for their first win of the WCC 2025 campaign. The five goals marked the first time since 1995 that the Toreros scored five goals in a game against a conference rival.
Beating the Dons tonight makes it the program's seventh win in a row against San Francisco dating back to 2019, and tying their largest margin of victory in their matchup's history.
USD had all of their angles covered, as they attacked the corners all game, scoring three goals in the bottom right corner, one in the top left via a direct free kick by Josh Martinez and one in the bottom left corner from the second-half brace from Cesar Bahena.
Plenty of firsts were achieved as Martinez scored his first goal of the season, goalkeeper Nick Webster made his collegiate debut after subbing in during the second half, and midfielder Ethan McNaughton appeared in his first game of the season.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Bahena headed a shot slightly off target from outside of the box in the 12th minute after a cross from lefty Luca Fava.
- A through ball from Owen Walz down the right side of the field to Bahena who passed a low driven ball into the box and led to the first shot on goal from Iain Wagner in the 16th minute.
- Following a USD foul, Fava quickly passed it to Noah James who drove the ball upfield and ripped a shot a few yards behind from the arc of the penalty box, which turned into an assist when it deflected off Steven Ramirez for a goal into the bottom right corner in the 21st minute to make it a 1-0 Torero lead.
- Wagner stole a goal when he pressed up field off the San Francisco center back and ripped a cross-body shot into the bottom right corner in the 27th minute to increase the team's advantage to 2-0.
- In the 33rd minute, 30 yards out from the left side, the Toreros staple free kick taker Martinez caught the Dons goalkeeper off guard waiting for the cross in, as he perfectly placed a shot into the top left corner for a 3-0 USD lead heading into halftime.
- Godwin Antwi rushed for an interception in the 50th minute laying the ball off for a two-on-one attack to James who played Bahena through on goal whose shot grazed the right side of the net.
- Vicente Ayala played a through ball to the left sideline, Bahena took on two defenders and ripped a goal just inside the penalty box to the bottom right corner in the 55th minute making the score 4-0 USD.
- Ramirez hit a behind the back heel pass to Antwi who dribbled and took a shot on goal that was saved in the 56th minute.
- Owen Walz played a long ball to Antwi who skimmed past a Dons defender dribbling the ball towards the box, driving it into the middle where Taj Eagleston took a shot that was saved and deflected to Bahena who then placed in the fifth goal of the game for the Toreros.
- In the 81st minute the Dons had their best chance of the match thus far as they rifled a shot saved by Webster for his first career collegiate save.
- USF scored their first goal of the match in the 83rd minute on a penalty which was the final goal for either side as the Toreros earned an impressive 5-1 home victory.
TORERO TIDBITS
- USD has now won the last seven matchups against last year's conference runner-ups San Francisco, as the Torero offense exploded with a five goal night as San Diego scored three plus goals for the fourth time this season.
- The Toreros had their most shots on goal in a game this season with 11 shots on target with 16 in total, also scoring the most goals they have scored in a single match so far this season.
- Tonight's match included four Toreros who had two or more points on the night with Eagleston assisting for two, Bahena scoring for four, while Martinez, Ramirez and Wagner all accounting for two.The last time USD had multiple players with two or points being the 3-2 victory against Denver earlier this season.
CATCHING UP WITH THE TOREROS
UP NEXT
The Toreros will be back in action on Friday, October 10 as they travel up north to face their conference rivals and nationally ranked No.1 Portland Pilots (8-0-2, 1-0-1 WCC) for what is set to be an intriguing West Coast Conference ranked matchup. Kick-off at Merlo Field is set for 7:00 p.m. Live video and live statistic links can be found via the team's schedule page.
