The University of San Diego women's soccer team (11-7-0, 6-1-0 WCC) will conclude their 2011 regular-season this Friday against No. 10 Santa Clara.

College Soccer News: USD Takes on Santa Clara Friday - Game Televised on ESPNU

The University of San Diego women’s soccer team will close out the West Coast Conference against tenth-ranked Santa Clara in a game that will decide the WCC regular season title. The match will be televised from Torero Stadium to a national audience on ESPNU. The Toreros (11-7-0, 6-1-0 WCC) are looking for their first ever conference championship. ESPN’s Ann Marie Anderson will call the live play-by-play action, with former U.S. Women’s National Team player Kate Markgraf providing the color. It is the second year in a row that USD has hosted a nationally televised match.

Three programs currently have a chance to win or share the WCC title this season. Santa Clara (12-1-5/6-0-1) lead the conference by one point over USD and Pepperdine. A Santa Clara victory would seal the top spot for the Broncos. However, a Torero win would assure USD of at least a tie of the top spot, pending the results of the Pepperdine match against University of San Francisco.

The Toreros are led by senior forward Stephanie Ochs, who has eight goals and eight assists for 24 points total. Her last match saw her notch two assists as USD beat Gonzaga University 3-0. Just behind Ochs in scoring are senior defender Natalie Garcia with five and senior midfielder Elissa Magracia with four. On the season, ten different players have scored at least one of the Torero’s 30 goals. In the net, senior goalkeeper Courtney Parsons has recorded five clean sheets on the season with a 0.85 goals against average.

The Broncos have their own scoring machine in Julie Johnston, with nine goals and three assists on the season. Santa Clara keeper Bianca Henninger has four shutouts on the season and a GAA of 0.62. The last time the two sides met, on October 10, 2010, Bronco Anessa Patton scored in the 50^th minute of a hard-fought contest to give Santa Clara a 1-0 win.

For USD, the game will be even more important as it will be Senior Night, with graduating Toreros being honored for their time on the pitch. “We are all looking forward to Friday night for many reasons,” said USD head coach Ada Greenwood. “It is our Senior Night and we are now playing for the WCC Title on national TV on ESPNU which adds even more to this special night.”

Greenwood explained that the match has another special meaning to it. “The game is also dedicated to Tom Hagedorn who passed away from leukemia. He coached the Men’s Tennis program at USD and was great friend of everyone in our Torero family. His message was simple: Keep living the dream.”

In one more piece of important news this week, it was announced that USD will host the 2012 Women’s College Cup on November 30 and December 2 of next year. This will be the first NCAA Division I national championship contest ever held on the USD campus, and only the third time a WCC school has hosted the event. In 1994 the championship was played at Portland and in 1996 Santa Clara hosted the showcase. Over the last nine years Texas A&M and North Carolina State have had a virtual monopoly on the championships, and before that North Carolina hosted them seven times since the inception in 1982.

Coach Greenwood encourages fans of the beautiful game and USD supporters to come out for this special match on Friday, beginning at 6:00 p.m. “We are expecting a very big crowd on Friday night and should be a great evening for all soccer fans.” 

Ada Greenwood is also a coach at Surf Soccer Club.