SAN DIEGO – The San Diego women’s soccer program (0-2, 0-0 WCC) hits the road again for another game against a Big West opponent, traveling north to face UC Irvine (1-1, 0-0 Big West) on Thursday at 6 p.m.

LAST TIME

• The Toreros made a late comeback attempt, but lost 2-0 to Long Beach State in their home opener on Sunday.
• Ilise Medrano For the second game in a row, he made five saves as goalkeeper.

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 spent several years at the university as an assistant coach 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.
• Evans has been the team’s leading scorer so far, scoring five shots in her first two games.
• 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 recently had success against UC Irvine and leads the standings with 11-8-1. They won the last meeting in 2022 with a 1-0 victory.
• Despite the defeats, the Toreros were able to limit both opponents to fewer shots than in previous encounters last season and 2022.
• Thursday is the third of six games against the Big West Conference in 2024, including all four first games of the season.

How to follow
Thursday’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.”