Aug. 19, 2008
Complete Women's Soccer Release in PDF Format 
IN A NUTSHELL: The 25th-ranked University of San Diego women's soccer team will begin their 2008 campaign in stylish fashion, as the defending national Champions USC Trojans come to Torero Stadium on Friday at 7:30 p.m. This will be the season opener for both teams.
TOREROS TABBED THIRD IN WCC PRESEASON POLL: The University of San Diego women's soccer team has been tabbed to finish third in the West Coast Conference, according to a preseason WCC coaches poll released by the conference office. Coming off of its fourth consecutive NCAA Tournament quarterfinal appearance, the University of Portland was selected as the preseason favorite to take home the 2008 WCC regular season title. The Pilots, who return five starters from last year's squad, received seven first place votes to tally 49 overall points. This marks the fourth straight year that the Pilots have been selected as the WCC preseason favorite. Santa Clara University was selected second with 42 total points, and received one first place vote, and USD checks in at third with 37 votes. Loyola Marymount was picked to finish fourth, with Pepperdine predicted to finish fifth and Gonzaga coming in at sixth. Rounding off the final two spots are San Francisco and Saint Mary's picked to finish seventh and eighth respectively.
THE POLLS: The University of San Diego women's soccer team is ranked No. 25 in the NSCAA preseason top-25 poll, while the Trojans come in the preseason poll ranked No. 1.
SCOUTING THE TROJANS: The University of Southern California will enter the 2008 season as the defending national champions, and ranked No. 1 in the NSCAA preseason top-25 poll. The Trojans and Toreros have met on eight prior occasions with the Trojans holding a 5-2-1 record in those contests, and have won the last three meetings. The Trojans only lost three seniors off last season's national championship team, but they do return several key offensive weapons including sophomore Megan Ohai. A year ago, Ohai tallied six goals and added in five assists for 17 points. The Trojans also return junior goalkeeper Kristin Olsen, who posted a 20-3-2 record with 12 shutouts and had a goals-against-average of 0.52.
MISS ALL-TIME IS BACK: Senior forward Amy Epsten is back for her final season in a Torero Uniform, and after this past season Epsten currently sits on top of the career-goals scored list at USD with 30. In 2007, Epsten returned to the form she had when she became the first Torero to be named the WCC Freshman of the Year in 2004, as she tied the program record for single-season goals scored with 14, and she added in one assist for a team-leading 29 points, en route to earning a first-team All-WCC accolade.
BRITT'S WORLD: Senior goalkeeper Brittany Cameron also makes her return for the Toreros after earning her first second-team All-WCC accolade this past season. In 2007, Cameron had a break-out season in which he posted career high's in goals-against-average (0.71), shutouts (9) and wins (15). Cameron helped guide the Toreros to a program-best 11 consecutive shutouts this past season and is back to help the Toreros try and win the program's first West Coast Conference championship.
A PAIR OF MEXICAN NATIONAL TEAM MEMBERS: Senior Jackie Garcia and junior Natalie Vinti are both members of the Mexican National team and both got some great playing experience with the team over this past summer with Vinti having an opportunity to start in the Olympic qualifier. In 2007, Vinti had a break-out type season and for her efforts she was named All-WCC honorable mention after tallying three assists for three points. Garcia also had a dominating season in 2007, in which she recorded her first collegiate goal, the game-winner over Gonzaga, and helped the defense bolster a 0.69 goals-against-average.
A FAMILY AFFAIR: Redshirt freshman midfielder/defender Katie Bavasi, who sat out last season with an injury, has fully recovered and will look to continue the family tradition at USD. Her father Bill was a member of the USD basketball team and her mother Tracy was a swimmer at USD. She is a product of Mission Viejo High School and she helped led her team to the quaterfinals of the CIF playoffs. She was also a member of the 2005 ODP team.
RECRUITING CLASS RANKED NO. 20 NATIONALLY: Soccerbuzz.com has ranked the incoming 2008 University of San Diego women's soccer recruiting class 20th best in the nation. This is the highest ranked recruiting class in program history. New to the Toreros are Stephanie Ochs (San Diego, CA/Patrick Henry HS), Dani Russell (Long Beach, CA/Wilson HS), Maggie Maguire (Anchorage, AL/West Anchorage HS), Courtney Parsons (Rohnert Park, CA/Ursuline HS), Natalie Garcia (Escondido, CA/San Pasqual HS), Lexi Doel (Ladera Ranch, CA/Alisa Niguel HS) and Elissa Magracia (Chula Visat, CA/Bonia Vista HS). Also joining the Toreros will be transfers Jackie Zinke from the University of Arizona, Akaylah Fisher from Arizona State University and Brooke Hickerson from the University of Colorado.
2007 TOREROS SET RECORDS: San Diego is coming off a record-setting season in 2007, in which they posted the best overall record at 15-3-3, tied a program record second place finish in conference with a 5-1-1 record, had a program-record No. 9 national ranking and posted a program-best 11 match unbeaten streak.
THE GREENWOOD FILE: Since taking over the San Diego women's soccer program in 2003, Ada Greenwood has upheld the rich soccer tradition that San Diego is known for and continues to build a successful and nationally recognized program. Just the third coach in USD's storied 15 year history, Greenwood has compiled an overall record of 54-39-10 in his five seasons at the helm. As San Diego's top assistant from 1998-2002, Greenwood helped USD to a 66-30-5 record and four NCAA College Cup appearances. In his second year as a head coach in 2004, he guided USD to a 12-8-2 overall record, a 5-1-1 mark in the difficult West Coast Conference, and a second round appearance in the NCAA College Cup, maintaining USD's streak of six consecutive postseason appearances. For his efforts, Greenwood was honored as both the 2004 West Coast Conference Coach of the Year and the 2004 San Diego Union Tribune Coach of the Year.
2008 GAMETRACKER AVAILABLE: All San Diego women's soccer home matches can be followed via Gametracker on the Toreros athletic web site at www.usdtoreros.com. Gametracker is a service of Online College Sports, the official web provider for San Diego athletics, and is a real time update of the action. Selected San Diego road matches are also available via Gametracker. To see if Gametracker is available for a game go to San Diego Events at the top-right of the home page. If Gametracker is available there will be a Gametracker link.
|
|
 |
