SAN DIEGO — A late go-ahead goal from junior forward
Steven Ramirez turned the tide for No. 23 San Diego men's soccer (6-1-2, 0-0-0 WCC) as USD took down crosstown rival UC San Diego (0-5-2, 0-0-0 WCC) by a 1-0 margin at Torero Stadium, earning a win in its final match before West Coast Conference play.
The lone goal of the game came in the 65th minute of play when Cesar Bahena placed a perfect long ball over the top of the defense to set up Ramirez for a strike inside the box, which he slotted past the Triton goalkeeper to earn the eventual game-winning goal.
Ramirez's goal now matches his teammate Iain Wagner's total of three goals during the 2025 season, as the pair are now tied for the team lead.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Sunday's contest started off slow, as neither team could muster any legit chances through the first 15 minutes of play.
- Wagner fired a curling shot towards the goal in the 16th minute that narrowly missed off the crossbar.
- A nice square ball from Samy Kanaan in the 20th minute set up Wagner for another shot, but a reaching save from the Triton goalkeeper kept it scoreless.
- A strong shot from the Tritons in the 26th minute of play nearly gave them the lead, but a nice save from Adams in goal kept UCSD off the board.
- The match remained scoreless at the break.
- A header from the Tritons went over Adams' head and onto the goal line in the 55th minute before Luca Fava made a clutch goal line clearance to keep it out.
- A long ball over the top from Bahena in the 62nd minute was perfectly placed to find Ramirez on a run into the box, before he slotted it home for the go-ahead goal, making it 1-0 Toreros.
- UCSD's last strong chance came on a free kick in the 79th minute as they sent a header towards the bottom right corner of the net but a reaching save from Adams maintained the 1-0 Torero lead as they went on to remain unbeaten in eight straight matches.
TORERO TIDBITS
- Head coach Brian Quinn debuted a new center-back pairing into the Toreros' back trio, starting Josh Martinez in the middle, with Simon Duus Muller at left center-back and Owen Walz remained at right center-back.
- Kanaan made the first start of his USD career as the Toreros' captain.
- Junior midfielder Volodymyr Kubrakov made his season debut, subbing into the match in the 82nd minute of play.
- Bahena earned his second assist of the season.
- Adams earned a new career-high two saves on Sunday evening against the Tritons.
CATCHING UP WITH THE TOREROS
UP NEXT
The Toreros will be back in action on Saturday evening as they travel to the South Bay to take on the Santa Clara Broncos (3-2-4, 0-0-0 WCC) to open up West Coast Conference play. Kick-off at Stevens Stadium is set for 7 p.m. Live video and live statistic links can be found via the team's schedule page.
