USD shines on Senior Night

Torero men’s soccer escapes with a 4-2 comeback win against the Portland Pilots

Chris Spiering / Sports Editor / The USD Vista

The University of San Diego Toreros came out victorious Saturday, as they hosted the University of Portland Pilots on Senior Night. It was truly a special night for the USD seniors as the Toreros played extremely hard against fierce competition. 

Both teams came into Torero Stadium eager to get the victory as USD was on a four-game losing streak prior to the victory against Portland. The last victory for the Toreros came against UCLA back in mid-October. 

“I think we challenged them this week,” USD men’s soccer head coach Brian Quinn said. “After had losing four games, we wanted the team to come out and show a couple things: One was character and then secondly, to show that we have resilience, and I thought they showed both.”  

After two early goals by the Pilots, USD scored four straight goals for the comeback win. San Diego now improves to 11-5-1 (2-4 West Coast Conference) on the season, while the Pilots are now 9-6-1 (3-3 WCC). Two seniors scored goals during the hard-fought game by both teams. Senior forward Miguel Berry came into the game with 14 goals on the season, which leads the WCC. His two goals now have him at 16 on the year. 

Just five minutes into action, junior forward Luke Hendel scored an early goal from a few feet out of the goal box for the Pilots, to give them an early lead with the score of 1-0.

Portland seemed to have the early momentum and was awarded a free kick in the ninth minute, which was blocked and cleared out by the Torero defense, giving the USD fans a sigh of relief. 

After a couple more missed shots by the Pilots, the Toreros passed the ball on target to set up a close header by junior midfielder Ross Meldrum, but it was hit too hard and high to the right. 

Hendel had another great shot in the 21st minute for the Pilots. From about 30 yards out he launched a great kick that sailed over the head of USD redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Matt Wiher, but hit the crossbar. Then less than a minute later, Wiher made a tremendous save to keep the ball out of the goal from a wide open shot by the Pilots’ player, which led to a corner kick for Portland. Senior midfielder Rey Ortiz lined up for the kick and placed a perfect ball right to senior defender Esteban Calvo for the header goal. Portland led 2-0 in the 22nd minute, but that goal would be their last score of the game. Portland now leads the WCC with 16 first half goals on the season. 

San Diego got on the board in the 37th minute after they were awarded a free kick. Redshirt-junior midfielder George West lined up and placed a great ball right to the head of Berry, which then sailed pass the junior goalkeeper Nico Campuzano for the goal. The score was 1-2 with just eight minutes left in the first half. 

Both teams went into the half playing very hard and aggressive. It was clear both teams wanted this win badly. Portland had the edge on shots with seven while USD was held to only six shots. 

The first 15 or so minutes in the second half didn’t have much action. But when the 62nd minute came around, USD capitalized on the Pilots’ mistakes. After the ball was cleared to the right side of the Pilot goal, Meldrum tracked it down and placed a short cross pass up toward the goal. Sophomore midfielder Alex Churness got in the way of the goalie and the ball touched the Pilots redshirt-junior defender Brian O’Hara and into the goal. The score was now even at 2-2 with under 30 minutes remaining in the half. 

The Toreros had another opportunity for a goal in the 72nd minute off a free kick, but it was missed just to the left of the goalie. 

Both sides were continuing to be aggressive and the intensity of the fans on both sides made it feel like a playoff atmosphere. 

Just as the clock was about to hit 80 minutes, San Diego lined up for a corner kick. Senior midfielder Freddy Polzer sailed a perfect pass right to senior defensive captain Henry Lander for the header past the goalie. The Toreros took the lead 3-2 and never looked back after that. 

It was only right for the senior captain for his first goal of the season to be a game-winning goal. 

“I just had to do a little bit to lose (the defender),” Lander said. “The ball came and literally just fell to my head, I just couldn’t miss. I had one like that earlier in the season against USF, I hit the ball out somehow which I was devastated about, but this one just luckily went in.”

The Toreros weren’t satisfied with just a one-score advantage. They knew that this Portland offense was talented and wanted to make sure they came out on top. Just four minutes later, Berry was on a fast break with just one defender left in the way of the goal. Berry’s speed was no match for the Pilot defender and Berry went right by him and launched a fastball right past Campuzano for the goal. The Toreros led 4-2 and had scored four unanswered points. 

Berry talked about what he saw from the defender on his second goal. 

“Honestly, he just looked pretty alone out there,” Berry said. “I knew I could get by him, but apparently I had Ross wide open as well, so If I hadn’t scored I’m sure there would have been a few words for me.” 

To cap things off, Wiher ended the game with a tremendous save in the 88th minute, which seemed to have capped off any last hopes for the Pilots. Wiher finished the game with four saves while giving up the two goals. Berry ended the game with a game-high two goals off four shots and Meldrum ended with a team-high two assists. 

The Toreros sent off four seniors: Chase Van Wey, Freddy Polzer, Miguel Berry, and the captain, Henry Lander. All of whom left their mark as a San Diego Torero. 

“It’s only my second year as head coach,” Quinn said. “But it has been an absolute pleasure to coach them. Every single one of them — tonight and throughout the season — have given me everything that we have asked for.” 

Quinn was excited to see the captain have the game-winning goal.

“It’s great, like icing on the cake for him,” Quinn said. “Because, even if he hadn’t scored, it wouldn’t have changed what he has done over four years in regards to being a real leader to this team. But it’s a great memory for him.” 

Lander reflected on his time in San Diego.

“It’s been unbelievable,” Lander said. “I wouldn’t change it for the world honestly. Coming here for the last four years, I couldn’t have asked for anything better.”

Berry finishes his USD career with a plethora of accolades, including many All-Academic and All-WCC mentions and honors. Berry reflected on what he will miss the most as his time as a Torero.

“I’m going to miss my friends,” Berry said. “It’s going to be tough saying goodbye to them you know, because we have such a tight group and they are really special and they make the school special for me.” 

Game in and game out, Lander brought his passion and emotion with him and it showed during his career. 

“I’m surprised I didn’t cry when I was walking out (for Senior Night) to be fair,” Lander said. “But I will probably miss the lads the most. I’ll miss the environment, the university, and everything as a whole. I’ll miss going to class and seeing all the students and all my mates, so these last four years were fantastic.” 

The Toreros travel to Santa Clara University for the regular season finale Saturday, Nov. 16 at 7 p.m. USD will not be able to win the WCC title but will hope for an at-large bid for the NCAA Tournament. If they are to receive a bid, it will be announced on Nov. 18.

Picture: USD Mens Soccer V. University of Portland 11-9-2019 (12 of 26).jpg