SoCal WCC Weekly Recap (11/10)

 As the fall sports begin to wind down and reach their postseasons, the winter sports have officially begun as college basketball tipped off around the West Coast Conference last week. 

San Diego Toreros

The USD football team opened the season 6-0 and looked like they might power through their Pioneer Football schedule once again.  But after two consecutive slips in games they should have won, they traveled to Davidson and by the end of the first quarter, it looked like they might be lucky to finish their league-record at .500!  The Toreros roared back from that 21-0 first quarter-deficit to win 28-24 to keep their hopes of a league championship alive.

The Torero men’s basketball team received a vote for the AP Top-25 for the first time in school history this preseason, and yet the team still feels slighted.  After returning every member of last year’s team that defeated three consecutive top-25 team (St. Mary’s Gonzaga, UConn) en route to the second round of the NCAA tournament, the Toreros now play with a chip on their shoulders.  They opened the season with a 71-67 win over Cal State L.A. despite not playing two starters; they were led by newcomer Roberto Manfra who had 21 points on 9-of-10 shooting.

The men’s golf team finished first at the Kauai Collegiate Invitational at the Puakea Course on Kauai.  Men’s soccer had a tough trip to the Pacific Northwest, losing 4-1 at Gonzaga and 3-2 at Portland over the weekend.  The losses drop the Toreros into third place, 1/2-game behind the conference leaders with two games to play. 

The #14 Women’s soccer team hosted #2 Portland with the conference title on the line on Saturday and jumped out to a 1-0 lead before surrendering the lead and the Title in the second half.  They lost 4-1.  The Toreros finished the season 14-4-2 (6-1) and now look ahead to the NCAA Tournament.  The #14 women’s volleyball team completed their fourth straight sweep, beating #25 San Francisco 3-0 on Saturday.

Loyola Marymount Lions

The women’s volleyball team got swept 3-0 at #23 Pepperdine, while the women’s soccer team enjoyed a shutout of their own, beating St. Mary’s 2-0.  The win closes out the Lions season in third place at 10-6-3 (5-2).  The women’s basketball team opened their season with a 92-52 win against visiting Point Loma Nazarene.  Women’s swimming took away a 125-78 win over Seattle University at LMU as well.

The men’s soccer team lost a 1-0 shutout at Portland and 2-1 at Gonzaga, and fell to sixth in the conference with just two games left.  The sixth ranked men’s water polo team had a better weekend, closing out it’s home schedule with a 16-6 win over #21 Air Force and 19-4 over Chapman in a dominating Saturday double-header. 

Pepperdine Waves

The Waves’ women’s basketball team opened their season with a 61-47 exhibition win over Westmont.  The women’s soccer team completed their season with their second consecutive shutout, this time 3-0 over the lowly San Francisco Dons.  Pepperdine finished 9-9-2 (4-3) while the Dons fell to 0-7 in conference play.  The women’s swim team placed 5th at the Anteater Shootout at UC Irvine.  Among the teams that beat the Waves were #3 Stanford.  The #23 women’s volleyball team crushed crosstown rival LMU 3-0. 

It was a quiet week for the Waves’ men’s programs, with only scores from the #5 water polo team being reported.  The Waves hosted Stanford, Concordia and UC Irvine last week, and lost to #2 Stanford 9-4, but beat Concordia 14-6 and beat #9 UC Irvine 12-9.