SAN DIEGO, Calif. – San Diego women's soccer battled to it's second straight tie to start the season, a 0-0 draw against the UC Irvine Anteaters on Thursday night in Torero Stadium.
 
"I'm really proud of the group tonight," head coach Greg LaPorte said. "More than anything, I loved our mentality. From the jump, the energy was there, and everyone, starters and subs, played their part."
 
Redshirt-freshman goalkeeper Chloe Walls was the star of the game, making her first career appearance and start in net. The Chula Vista, Calif. native stopped five shots, three in one-v-one scenarios, en-route to a shutout.
 
"It was quite an eventful night for Chloe on her debut," said LaPorte. "She kept us in the game and played well above her years."
 
The Toreros remain unbeaten in the season's first two matches for the first time since 2021 when the team put together three straight wins to start the season. LaPorte earned his first career point as a head coach with a 1-1 draw on Aug. 22, 2024 on the road in Irvine and remains dead even in his career series with the Anteaters.
 
How it Happened
LaPorte's starting lineup saw three changes from the season-opener. Reigning WCC Offensive Player of the Week, freshman forward Amanda Anders made her first career start, as did redshirt-freshman goalkeeper Chloe Walls for her first collegiate appearance. Wake Forest grad transfer Abigail Colton – an NCAA College Cup runner-up starter in 2024 – also made her first start for USD.
 
In a scoreless first half, the Anteaters maintained a majority of possession with an edge of two of seven total shots on goal to one. It was Walls who first preserved the lead making a terrific one-v-one save after the UCI forward received a near perfect ball over the top. Next, Sealy recovered from another ball over the top and made a sliding rejection of another close-range shot by the Anteaters.
 
The second half would be more of the same while Las Toreras took the main share of possession this time around. Clear-cut chances were still hard to come by for both sides with USD's best chance being a one-timer ripped just high by sophomore Ella Callanan in the 78^th minute.
 
Redshirt-freshman Hannah Faklaris made her first career collegiate appearance with a second half substitution into the back line and totaled 26 minutes.

In the 80^th minute Walls made her second big one-v-one save, coming off her line to make the save with her left leg. In the 83^rd minute UCI thought they had finally gotten past USD's back wall, only for the goal to be called off for offsides.
 
In the 88^th minute, in what would be one of the last chances of the game, Walls did it again after an Anteater collected the ball off an unfortunate USD deflection which Walls used a quick reaction with her hands to parry the ball of the right post.
 
The full-time whistle drew the game to a close in a scoreless draw where UC Irvine had 15 total shots, five on target, to San Diego's five shots, two on target. USD caught the guests offsides a crucial four times. The last San Diego clean sheet was on Sept. 19, 2024, a 2-0 win at CSUN and USD's last scoreless draw was vs. UC Santa Barbara on Aug. 29, 2024.
 
Up Next
Las Toreras will hit the road for the first time in 2025 as they travel north for a 1 p.m. matchup at the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos on Sunday, Aug. 24.