SAN DIEGO — San Diego Women's soccer exploded for six goals on Sunday night, dominating UC Riverside 6-0 at Torero Stadium, remaining undefeated to start the season through five matches for the first time since 2003. 
 
"You haven't seen anything yet," head coach Greg LaPorte said. "I'm happy for them. [It's] good, strong performances, and we're going to keep pushing."
 
Freshman forward Amanda Anders and senior midfielder Jenna Rubidoux each knocked in a pair of goals in the victory, with senior midfielder Kylie Smith and senior forward Josefine Schlichting adding goals of their own. The offensive firepower was set up by a shutout from the Torero defense, as redshirt freshman goalkeeper Chloe Walls logged her second clean sheet in three career games with three difficult saves, moving her season save percentage to 92.9% (13 saves and one goal against), which leads the conference. 
 
Las Toreras struck first with a penalty kick in the first half, before putting up a whopping five in the second frame. Freshman defender Ella Callanan recorded her third and fourth assists of the season in the victory, as she now leads the team in that margin. Freshman midfielder Hailey Vermilyea also broke through for her first point of the season with a 54th minute assist. 
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
LaPorte made four changes to his starting eleven from his 3-1 victory a week ago, including Walls sliding back into the starting lineup after winning WCC defensive player of the week on 8/25. 
 
The Toreros started off Sunday evening's contest dominating possession, with the ball staying on the Highlanders side of the field for the majority of the opening 15 minutes of the game.  
 
Las Toreras struck first in the 19th minute when a stellar through ball into the box from Callanan found Rubidoux streaking down the wing, but a hard foul from behind by the UCR defender earned USD a penalty which Smith snuck past the Highlander keeper to give San Diego the early advantage. 
 
San Diego started the second half hot, finding the back of the net again when a beautiful build up led to a nice cut inside from Anders gave her an open shot on goal which she buried, doubling her teams lead in the 54th minute. Senior forward Katelyn Bessemer and Vermilyea were credited with the assists, Vermilyea's first career point.
 
The Toreros kept their foot on the gas, as Anders scored her second just 10 minutes later with a shot from outside the 18-yard box that found the top right of the net, extending the USD lead to 3-0 in the 64th minute. 
 
Rubidoux broke onto the stat sheet with two goals in a span of 95 seconds, in the 67th and 69th minutes, to quickly make it 5-0. The first goal came yet another quality through ball from Callanan after she made a brilliant move around the defender, putting Rubidoux one-on-one with the keeper, which she slotted home for the fourth goal of the game. Originally called offsides, the call was overturned by VAR.
 
The latter goal came just 1:35 later, when junior forward Tamia Graham curled in a corner, which Rubidoux redirected into the left side netting, giving the goalkeeper no chance. 
 
Schlichting put the icing on the cake in the 90th minute with a goal of her own, dribbling through four defenders and poking it through, ending the match at 6-0.
 
UP NEXT
Las Toreras will be back in action on Thursday evening when they travel to Long Beach, Calif. to take on Long Beach State for USD's second away contest of the season. Kick-off against the Beach is set for 7 p.m.
 
TORERO TIDBITS

• Rubidoux and Anders both scoring multiple goals marks the first occasion of different Toreros notching braces in the same game since current USD assistant Jackie Altschuld and Michaela Dooley, who were both making their collegiate debuts in the 2013 (Aug. 23) season-opening 5-2 win vs. San Jose State 
• Anders' four goals in four games now leads the West Coast Conference, the next best being three goals through six games by four different players. 
• Tonight's six total Torero goals is the first time the team has scored six goals in a game since another 6-0 home win over Idaho State on Sept. 28, 2008 
• The Toreros match their assist total of the 2024 season (12), doing it in just five games, 14 less than a year before
• Callanan logged her fourth assist in five games with two more tonight, adding to her season point total of six which now leads the West Coast Conference
• Freshman forward notched her second brace of the season (also her career debut, Aug. 14 vs. Cal Poly), moving her season total to four goals in four games and a team-leading eight points