Men’s soccer struggles against in-state opponents

Darren Feeney / Staff Writer / The USD Vista

The Toreros men’s soccer team returned to San Diego over the weekend to find themselves winless after two hard fought matches. The Toreros fell 2-1 in double overtime Friday evening to No. 23 UC Davis (6-1-0) followed by a Sunday matinee defeat 1-0 against UC Irvine (6-0-2).

Friday’s battle under the lights against UC Davis was the first-ever meeting between the two teams and featured 34 fouls including three yellow cards and one red card ejection. The Aggies jumped out to an early lead seven minutes in on a Quincy Amarikwa chip-shot over USD goalkeeper Kelin Briones. Senior defender Jordan Canderpoorten provided the assist. The goal was Amarikwa’s sixth of the young season on just his 10th shot on goal.

The Toreros quickly answered in the 11th minute with a goal when Torero defender Tim Grey sent a solid header toward the Aggies net as the ball went off the crossbar. An attempted clearance found Toreros midfielder Greg Hammond who put the ball in their net.

Late in the first-half goalkeeper Birones was kicked in the head by Aggies midfielder Paul Marcoux as Birones slid in for a save. Marcoux was given a yellow card caution but just minutes later Toreros forward JT Howlan was ejected on a cleats-up tackle on Aggies midfielder Sule Anibaba.

“I thought the kid made a meal of the call which could have prompted the official’s carding,” Torero head coach Seamus McFadden commented.

This resulted in the Toreros being forced to play a man down for the duration of the match but were able to hold the Aggies scoreless the entire second half behind a strong defensive performance by Birones and last year’s second-team All-WCC defender Tim Grey. The teams headed into overtime knotted 1-1 with Davis recording 15 shots on goal to just four by the Toreros. In double overtime the Aggies were able to take advantage of a foul inside the Torero penalty box, leading to a Dylan Curtis penalty shot that got past a diving Birones, ending the well contested battle 2-1.

The Toreros returned to the pitch Sunday to face off against unbeaten UC Irvine. USD had owned UCI in the past, winning 17 of the last 21 match-ups. Irvine outside midfielder Irving Garcia had been setting up his teammates all afternoon with an array of crosses inside the box and it was just a matter of time before someone would capitalize. In the 37th minute, Garcia put a great touch on a through pass behind the Torero defense finding Michael Willrich’s feet who then slotted a shot low into the left corner of the net. Willrich’s tally proved to be the deciding factor as the final whistle blew with the score 1-0 in favor of UC Irvine.

The Torero’s 0-5-2 record may look bad on paper but it is a bit deceiving. Only one of their five losses have been by more than a single goal. The Toreros though will look to improve as they head into WCC Play.

“We’ve opened the season playing five of last year’s top 10 nationally ranked teams,” said McFadden. “We’re doing all we can and we’re earning our stripes.”

USD will look to make history as they will be in pursuit of their first victory of the season as well as McFadden’s 300th career win tonight at 7 p.m. against UCLA.