Nov. 9, 2009
SAN DIEGO, Calif. - The University of San Diego women's soccer team has learned that it will head to Los Angeles for the first and second rounds of the NCAA Tournament this weekend. USD will open play against cross-town rival San Diego State University on Friday at 8 p.m. The other two teams in the bracket are Boise State University and No. 1 seeded UCLA. Should USD win on Friday, they would face the winner of the UCLA/Boise State match on Sunday at 1 p.m. at UCLA's Drake Stadium.
San Diego finished the regular-season with a 12-6-2 overall record and a 5-2-0 mark in the West Coast Conference, good for a second place finish. The Toreros are led offensively by sophomore forward Stephanie Ochs, who has a team-leading six goals, and a team-best eight assists for 20 points. San Diego's defense is anchored down by sophomore goalkeeper Courtney Parsons, who has posted seven shutouts on the season and has posted a goals-against-average of 1.15. This will mark the third consecutive season the Toreros have received an at-large bid into the NCAA playoffs, and tie third consecutive season USD will travel to UCLA.
San Diego State enters the tournament with an overall record of 14-3-5 after upsetting No. 8 BYU in the championship game of the Mountain West Conference tournament, 1-0, this past Saturday. SDSU leads the all-time series at 6-4-1, but the Toreros did win the last meeting, 2-0, back on Oct. 25, 2006 at Torero Stadium. The Aztecs' offense is led by junior midfielder Cat Walker, who has a team-best 10 goals to go along with five assists for a team-leading 25 points. The SDSU defense is anchored down by junior goalkeeper Aubree Southwick, who has a goals-against-average of 0.90 and has posted nine shutouts. The Aztecs are under the direction of third-year head coach Mike Friesen. During his time at SDSU, Friesen has posted an overall record of 29-21-11.
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UCLA enters the Tournament with an overall record of 17-2-1 after defeating No. 17 Washington State 2-0 this past week. UCLA leads the all-time series with the Toreros at 15-1-4, but USD did register a scoreless draw with the bruins this season back on August 28 at Torero Stadium. The Bruins are led offensively by sophomore forward Sydney Leroux, who has a team-leading 15 goals to go along with a pair of assists for 32 points. Anchoring down the defense is sophomore goalkeeper Chante' Sandiford, who has a goals-against-average of 0.59 to go along with eight shutouts. The bruins are under the direction of 11th-year head coach Jillian Ellis. During her tenure in Los Angeles, Ellis has posted an overall record of 195-34-11.
Boise State enters the NCAA Tournament with an overall record of 13-6-4 after defeating Nevada 1-0 in the WAC championship game this past week. The Toreros and Broncos have never met before in the history of the program. BSU is led offensively by Erica Parks, who has a team-leading nine goals to go along with a pair of assist for 20 points. The BSU defense is anchored down by Liz Ruiz, who has posted five shutouts and had a goals-against-average of 0.72. The Broncos are under the direction of 13th-year head coach Steve Lucas. During his tenure in Boise, Lucas has posted an overall record of 73-79-18.
