MORAGA, Calif. - West Coast Conference action is officially here as Saint Mary's will head to Southern California to take on San Diego who look to defend their league title in 2024. Head coach
Adam Cooper and his group have played some of their most competitive matches against the Toreros in recent years as they enter Saturday's contest with a 2-1-2 series record in their last five matches with the Toreros. They fell 2-1 in 2023 but will look to knock off the 21st ranked team in the country and secure their first win over San Diego since 2021.
GAME INFORMATION AND COVERAGE
GAELS RECAP
Saint Mary's concluded their non-conference schedule on the road last week against San Jose State. They battled their way to a scoreless draw for their third of the season and now enter WCC play with a 1-4-3 overall record. Head coach
Adam Cooper has not been shy about trying different lineups and switching personnel and he made another change against the Spartans giving redshirt freshman
Kolby Fish Sessions his first collegiate start in goal. The first half only generated a combined six shots as both sides struggled to create quality offensive chances.
Fynn Allmon and
Jackson Fyda anchored the center back positions for the Gaels while
Bastian Toelhoej stepped up into the midfield. San Jose State would ramp up the pressure in the second half with 14 shots and six of them on frame. Sessions would be tested in his collegiate debut and rise to the occasion finishing with a game high eight saves to help preserve the 0-0 draw. The best chance for Saint Mary's would come from
Jack Vestberg who had a one-on-one chance with the Spartans keeper inside the left half of the penalty box. He would fire a shot low and to the keeper's right but he would get down quick to make the stop and smother the rebound to keep the Gaels off the scoreboard.
After helping to preserve the tie with his eight save performance, Sessions went on to be named the WCC Defensive Player of the Week and earn the first conference weekly award for the Gaels this season. Sessions became the first player in program history to earn a conference weekly award in his collegiate debut and his eight saves went down as a new season high, besting teammate
Sam Bentley who had seven saves against Sacramento State. Four of their last seven meetings with San Diego have ended in a draw and the Gaels will look for their first win over the Toreros since 2021.
ABOUT SAN DIEGO (WCC)
San Diego has emerged as a top power in the West Coast Conference as they entered the 2024 season as two-time defending league champs. After winning just two games in 2021, the Toreros bounced back for an undefeated conference campaign in 2022 to secure the league title. In 2023, they would share the league title with Santa Clara but get the automatic bid for the NCAA Tournament. This season, San Diego is off to another impressive start holding a 6-1-2 overall record entering WCC play and were ranked 21st in this week's United Soccer Coaches poll.
Key wins this season include shutouts against San Diego State, Cal Baptist and future conference member Grand Canyon and they also drew with 20th ranked Duke to start the 2024 campaign. The Toreros have outscored their opponents 20-7 but tripped into WCC action, suffering a 2-0 defeat to Big West member Cal State Fullerton for their first loss of the season.
Trevor Dillon returns for the Toreros to anchor their backline after being named to the All-West Region Second Team in 2023. Local product Samy Kanaan leads the team with five goals, ranking second in the conference to lead their scoring attack. San Diego is led by Brian Quinn who is in his 6th season at the helm but has been with the program alongside former head coach Seamus McFadden for over a decade. He took over for McFadden in 2018 and has since captured two WCC titles and made a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances. These two programs have had competitive battles dating back to 2017 and Saturday's showdown should make for another competitive match as both teams look to start conference play with a victory.
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