Men’s soccer’s road woes continue in Bay Area

The USD men's soccer team is a lackluster 1-4 on the road this season. In spite of this road record, the Toreros are still tied for second place in the West Coast Conference and have a chance to win it all. But to do that, the Toreros will have to rid themselves of the road woes that have plagued them all season.

"They have to be tougher on the road," head coach Seamus McFadden said of his team. "They have to have a different mindset on the road and need to duplicate the toughness they have at home on the road."

This toughness is evident in the Toreros' 6-2-1 home record and their ability to adapt to different lineups that have resulted from the plethora of injuries they have been dealt this season. Senior starting forward Stephen Posa has been dealing with a pulled hamstring for the majority of the season. Redshirt junior defender David Armstrong had to be left at home for the Toreros' most recent road trip and redshirt sophomore midfielder Daniel Meade has also been injured. There have also been a number of other players injured throughout the season, leaving the Toreros with a lack of consistency in their lineups and thus, a lack of time spent perfecting on-the-field chemistry.

This lineup inconsistency has been one of the reasons that the Toreros have not faired well on the road. A young team with minimal experience, especially away from the comforts of home, is going to have its highs and lows.

"At home we battle like crazy," McFadden said. "Every time I think we have turned the corner we have shot ourselves in the foot."

The Toreros shot themselves in the foot twice this past weekend in the Bay Area, losing 4-0 at the University of San Francisco Dons on Friday and 4-1 at the University of Santa Clara Broncos on Sunday after a 10-day rest. The Toreros have not lost by four goals since 2004, when they lost 4-0 to the then No. 4 UCLA Bruins.

"You would think the 10-day layoff would have helped us," McFadden said. "But it hurt us more than helped us."

Despite losing, the Toreros outshot both the Dons and the Broncos. They outshot the Dons 18-10 and the Broncos 14-12.

"We had six breakaways against USF and it was unbelievable that we didn't finish any of them," McFadden said.

To counter USD's lack of execution, USF scored in the 21st minute and 44th minute of play, ridding USD of any momentum to help their comeback hopes in the second half.

Junior midfielder Conor Mcfadden led the Toreros with three shots against the Dons, but could not put any of them in the net because of USF goalie Brendan Roslund's 11 saves. The Toreros' lack of execution on the offensive side of the ball spilled over to the defense, which allowed four goals.

"We made two bad mistakes and gifted them two goals," McFadden said. "But that's the way it goes."

At least that's the way it's been going so far this season. It did not get any better against Santa Clara.

Goals in the fourth and 20th minutes by the Broncos gave the Toreros a sense of deja-vu, but defender Elijah Galbraith-Knapp, who has been moved up to midfield because of injuries, stopped this deja-vu momentarily. He scored in the 19th minute of play to put the Toreros within one goal at a score of 2-1. But just five minutes later the Broncos scored, making the score 3-1 and crushing hopes of a Torero comeback. Santa Clara scored once more in the 47th minute, finalizing the score at 4-1.

USD has not been able to put together a consistent lineup all season and this has been hindering their ability to produce consistent results. But nonetheless, the Toreros have lacked the execution needed to win games.

"We are the best playing team in the conference," McFadden said. "Other coaches have told us that, but you have to be able to execute."

USD still has four more WCC games left on the season, starting with their last homestand of the year against the Gonzaga University Bulldogs tomorrow at 2 p.m. and the University of Portland Pilots on Sunday, also at 2 p.m. These two games will give the Toreros another opportunity to take control of their own destiny and put themselves atop of the conference.

"We need to win the next two games and figure it out from there," McFadden said. "But as a coach you can't ask for more than to have a chance to win the conference. This weekend is a defining moment in our season."