SAN DIEGO — No. 25 San Diego scored four times after halftime to close the regular season with a 4-0 Senior Night win over Saint Mary's at Torero Stadium on Friday, locking up the No. 2 seed in the inaugural WCC Men's Soccer Tournament.
The Toreros (10-4-3, 5-1-2 WCC) finished league play with four straight wins and 17 points, second to regular-season champion Portland, and will meet No. 3 seed Denver in Wednesday's semifinals in Portland, Ore. Saint Mary's (2-10-6, 0-5-3 WCC) was held to four shots on goal.
Before kickoff, San Diego honored seniors Jaxson Findlay, Noah James, Volodymyr Kubrakov, Ethan McNaughton, Steven Ramirez, Oliver Rhoades and Elijah Zelkind, and two of them had a hand in the scoring. Zelkind set up the first two goals, and Ramirez's shot forced the third.
The teams went to the break scoreless despite an 8-3 Torero edge in shots and 61% of the possession. The Saint Mary's goalkeeper turned away Tobias Polz's effort in the 25th minute, and Lucca Adams made his first save of the night in the 13th.
The breakthrough came in the 59th minute. Zelkind passed inside from the right flank to Taj Eagleston, who played it square to Iain Wagner on the edge of the 18-yard box, and Wagner touched past a defender before slotting a left-footed finish into the bottom right corner for his fourth goal of the season.
Less than three minutes later, Zelkind sent in a cross from near the end line on the right that Saint Mary's halftime replacement in goal couldn't hold, and Devin Zachry, on as a substitute since the 32nd minute, met the rebound with a first-time finish from inside the six-yard box into the bottom left corner. It was his second goal of the season, and both have come off the bench.
Ramirez forced the third goal in the 73rd minute. Devin Dillon crossed from the left, and Ramirez settled the ball and fired right-footed from the right side of the box. The goalkeeper tipped the shot onto the crossbar, but the rebound came down off him and over the line for an own goal and a 3-0 lead.
Samy Kanaan capped the night in the 86th minute after having two shots blocked in the previous six minutes, pouncing on a loose ball in the box and finishing low through the middle with the inside of his right foot from eight yards. It was his first goal of 2026 and his third career goal against the Gaels, following scores in the 2023 and 2024 meetings.
Adams finished with four saves, three of them after halftime, and an 89th-minute stop preserved his third clean sheet of the season. He has played every minute in goal this year and improved to 10-4-3. San Diego outshot the Gaels 23-10 and 8-4 on target, with Wagner leading all players with five shots, and 21 Toreros saw action, including senior starters McNaughton and Rhoades, while Findlay came off the bench in the 79th minute.
The four-goal margin was San Diego's largest of the season, and the Toreros have scored at least three goals in five of their last six matches. They have won four straight against Saint Mary's to push their lead in the all-time series to 35-12-10, and since the start of the 2022 season they are 29-0-5 in WCC play against everyone but Portland.
UP NEXT
San Diego, the No. 2 seed, faces No. 3 seed Denver in the WCC Tournament semifinals on Wednesday, Nov. 11, at Merlo Field in Portland, Ore. Kickoff is set for 2 p.m. PT, and the match will stream on ESPN+. The winner advances to the championship match on Saturday, Nov. 14, at 7 p.m. PT against the winner of top seed Portland's semifinal, with the WCC's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament on the line. The Toreros and Pioneers played to a 0-0 draw in the WCC opener for both teams Sept. 26 at Torero Stadium.
