Weekly Recap

Toreros making waves in the pros; women’s soccer and volleyball get wins

Mari Olson / Sports Editor / The USD Vista

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Women’s Soccer

Two first half goals propelled women’s soccer to victory on Thursday, Sept. 2 at Torero Stadium, beating Long Beach State University (LBSU) to improve to 4-1 on the season. 

USD junior defender, Michaela Foster, converted a third-minute penalty kick to open the scoring. LBSU found a 22nd minute equalizer, but junior midfielder Jamie Goralski scored to re-establish the lead in the 45th minute as the Toreros won 2-1. 

Junior goalkeeper, Ellyn Casto, made five saves to help USD get the win, and the Toreros put in the work defensively in the second half to hold onto the lead. Women’s soccer faces San Diego State (1-4) next in a local rivalry game on Friday, Sept. 10 at Torero Stadium. 

Volleyball

USD Volleyball, ranked no. 22, beat Hawaii in straight sets on Friday morning in the Toreros’ first game of the Utah Classic. The Toreros won 25-13, 25-17, 25-19. USD improves to 2-1 on the season after a win over UTSA last weekend. 

Senior outside hitter, Katie Lukes, led the Toreros with 15 kills during the match, while fellow senior middle blocker, Gabby Goddard, had four blocks to lead the team and work towards a Torero win. 

In the second game of the Utah Classic, also on Friday, the Toreros fell to the University of Utah Utes, ranked no. 19, 1-3. San Diego won the first set, 30-28, but couldn’t hold on in the final three sets to the Utes, going down 22-25, 22-25, 17-25. 

Lukes and Goddard again led USD in kills and blocks, respectively, but the team couldn’t keep up with Utah. 

The Toreros rounded out the weekend’s games with a win over California Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo. USD won in straight sets against the Mustangs, improving their record to 3-2. Volleyball returns to the Jenny Craig Pavilion this weekend, playing the University of California Los Angeles on Thursday, Sept. 9 and San Diego State University on Saturday. 

Pro Soccer

USD men’s soccer alum, Miguel Berry, scored two goals in two minutes for the Columbus Crew to send the Major League Soccer team to a 3-2 victory over rivals FC Cincinnati on Friday, Aug. 27. Berry played as a forward for USD’s men’s soccer team from 2016 through 2019, making 72 appearances and scoring 38 goals for the Toreros. He was named West Coast Conference Co-Player of the Year in 2019. 

Berry was selected 7th overall by the Columbus Crew in the 2020 MLS SuperDraft and has since made five appearances, scoring three goals for the Crew. 

After coming on as a substitute in the 73rd minute, Berry capitalized on a mistake by Cincinnati’s goalkeeper, Kenneth Vermeer, and easily slotted the ball into the net to tie the game at 2-2 in the 81st minute. 

Less than two minutes later, the Crew sent a cross into Cincinnati’s penalty box, causing another error by Vermeer. 

Berry was in the right place at the right time to again send the ball over the line, this time for the game winner in the 82nd minute.

Pro Football

USD football alum, Reid Sinnett, and the Miami Dolphins beat the Cincinnati Bengals 29-26 in their last National Football League preseason game on Sunday, Aug. 29 with Sinnett starting at quarterback for Miami.Sinnett played for USD Football from 2015 through 2019. He was the starting quarterback for the Toreros in his final season, completing 66.9% of his passes during that season. 

Sinnett went 22 of 33, passing for 343 yards during last Sunday’s game against Cincinnati, and threw two touchdowns. With a minute and a half left in the 4th quarter, and the Dolphins down by five points, Sinnett threw a Hail Mary pass into the endzone. It was caught for the Dolphins’ fourth touchdown of the game as well as for the win. 

The Dolphins won two out of three preseason games. Sinnett played in all three preseaon games but shone against the Bengals.