SAN DIEGO – The San Diego women’s soccer program (0-1, 0-0 WCC) returns home for the first time in 2024, hosting Long Beach State (0-1, 0-0 Big West) for its first home game Sunday at 1 p.m. at Torero Stadium.
LAST TIME
- The Toreros lost their season opener at Cal State Fullerton on Thursday night by 0-3.
NEW BEGINNINGS
- The Toreros will enter the 2024 season with a new head coach. Greg LaPorte makes his regular season debut at the top.
- LaPorte joined the Toreros in December and was an assistant coach for several years under former head coach Ada Greenwood before I went to UC San Diego.
- LaPorte is joined by assistants with connections to the school, such as the former bullfighter Jackie Altschuld and former player Matt Hall help round out LaPorte’s workforce.
What you should pay attention to
- San Diego will present a new team in 2024 and welcome 17 new additions, both transfer players and freshmen.
- Among the most important returnees is the top scorer of 2023 Lexi Zandonella-Arasawho returns to lead the offensive alongside Sarah Evans And Mikayla Abrenica.
- The defence is formed by returnees Katie Baxter And Jenn Hashimotoas well as several talented, defensive-minded newcomers, including My Haugland Sørsdahl (University of California), Molly Quarry (Montana) and Margaret Rabbitt (George Washington)
- Several new signings have excellent performances, including full-backs Ella Callananwho received an invitation to train with the Portland Thorns FC first team this season.
TORERO SCIENCES
- San Diego has a 12-5-4 record in the overall series against the Beach, with a thrilling 2-2 tie the last time they met in 2022.
- Evans is about to play her 50th college game and just needs one more appearance.
- Saturday is the second of six games against the Big West Conference in 2024, including all four first games of the season.
How to follow
Sunday’s game will be streamed via ESPN Plus, with live stats available via Statbroadcast. To stay up to date with Toreros women’s soccer, follow the team on Instagram and Twitter by searching for “USDwsoccer.”
