Women’s soccer celebrates Senior Night

Toreros vs. Tigers ends in a tie; all four seniors play against Pacific 

MARI OLSON / SPORTS EDITOR / THE USD VISTA

The University of San Diego women’s soccer team celebrated their Senior Night at Torero Stadium on Friday, Oct. 29, shining a spotlight on the players who will be graduating from the program this year. 

The Toreros played to a zero-zero tie with the University of the Pacific (UOP) Tigers after the celebration. The Toreros have never lost to UOP, with last night’s draw bringing their record against the Tigers to two wins and two ties. 

The game was open and fast-paced, with both teams playing a possession game and finding ways to break through each other’s defenses to take shots. 

The Toreros outshot the Tigers, taking 20 total shots over the full 90 minutes of regular time and two 10-minute halves of overtime. The Toreros had seven shots on target during the game, coming from junior forward, Bekah Valdez, first-year midfielder, Bella Piete, and sophomore midfielder, Aryssa Mahrt. 

All seven of USD’s shots on goal were saved by the Pacific goalkeeper, junior Brenna Crump.

Senior goalkeeper, Judith Sorribes, made four important saves to keep the Tigers out of USD’s goal. Two saves were especially key during the 20 minutes of golden goal overtime, when one goal by the Tigers would have ended the Toreros’ night in defeat.

The game ended in a tie after a total of 110 minutes of intense soccer. 

Head coach, Louise Lieberman, wished the Toreros found a different result. 

“[It’s] disappointing. I thought we were the better team tonight, and so it’s hard when the scoreboard doesn’t show that. But if you don’t put the ball in the net, then you can’t win the game,” Lieberman said. 

Lieberman did, however, think that the team put in the work to try and find a goal. 

“I’m proud of their effort though, that’s always a good feeling. I’m proud of the work they did, I’m proud of being good tonight, but I just know that to be super successful we gotta score,” Lieberman emphasized. 

Redshirt junior defender and captain, Michaela Foster, agreed with Lieberman that a win would have been ideal. 

“Yeah, we’ll take [a tie]. Obviously it’s not exactly what we wanted, especially on Senior Night, but it was good, the girls fought hard the whole 110 minutes, whatever it was. Tough game but you can’t fault our work effort,” Foster said. 

Senior forward, Madison Louderback, was happy with how the team played as well. 

“I do wish we could have gotten a different result of a win, we definitely played a better game than them and the results just didn’t show that,” Louderback said. “I think we did a really good job playing around them, tiring them out, we kept the ball really well and they definitely couldn’t keep up with us.” 

Foster and Louderback both emphasized areas that they are looking to improve upon in the last few games of the season. 

“Obviously I think when we do take our chances on goal we need to finish them, find the net instead of the keeper,” Louderback said. “But I mean, taking shots in the place to start and we definitely did that tonight.” 

Foster talked about the team’s ability to think through situations quickly on the field.

“I think in some moments, we kind of rushed it, but when we slowed it down and made them work, we looked really good, and I think we dominated that part of the game, which was really cool to see,” Foster said. 

Lieberman agreed with both players that putting balls in the back of the net is the most important thing for the soccer team going forward. 

“We want to accomplish everything we did tonight and more. They gave a consistent effort tonight that I’m really proud of. The only difference is trying to put some balls in and enjoy those moments,” Lieberman explained. “It’s really just doing what we did tonight, and then some, and having that killer instinct in front of the net.” 

Louderback and Foster were both recognized as part of the Senior Night celebrations before the game, along with Sorribes and midfielder, Michayla Herr. Louderback’s parents presented her to the crowd, while Foster, who is from New Zealand, was presented by Lieberman and her assistant coach.

After thinking it over a little bit, Louderback gave one word to describe her experience in the past four years on USD soccer: family. 

“This is my family. I’ll never find anything like this again. I’ll never experience this at a job or workplace so, I guess family is one word I can think of,” Louderback said. 

Foster talked about what the team has given her. 

“I’ve loved it, it’s been very special. I’ve definitely grown as a soccer player. That’s what I wanted to do, it was my goal coming here to San Diego, and USD specifically,” Foster said. “I’ve loved it, the coaching staff have been super supportive and yeah, I think just my growth has been the main thing for me here.” 

Lieberman expressed her gratitude for what all of the seniors bring to the team. 

“I just love that they’re on this journey with me, that they’ve trusted this journey with us, to come in and make an impact on it the way that they did individually in a unique way. I’m proud of their effort and the footprint that they’ve left here,” Lieberman said.  

Women’s soccer’s final home game was on Nov. 3. Their last game of the regular season will be on Saturday, Nov. 6 at the University of San Francisco. Area.