USD Women's Soccer 2005

PosTSEASON BERTH

By Katie Allen, USO Media Relations

The University of San Diego women's soccer team ended its 2004 season with a 3-0 loss to the UCLA Bruins in the second round of the NCAA College Cup Tournament. It marked the sixth consecutive season San Diego (12-8-2, 5-1-1 WCC) advanced to the NCAA playoffs, one of just 16 teams nationally to achieve such a feat. USO equaled a program-best finish in the highly competitive West Coast Conference, winning five league games to place third behind co-WCC Champions Portland and Santa Clara. Guiding the Toreros to a strong finish , in which USO won seven of its last ten regular season games (7-1-2), second– year head coach Ada Greenwood was named the 2004 WCC Coach of the Year and the San Diego Union Tribune's 2004 Coach of the Year. Greenwood becomes the second coach in program history to garner WCC Coach of the Year accolades, with Tony da Luz (1992-96) receiving the award following a record-setting 1996 campaign. For the third consecutive season, the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee sent the Toreros to Los Angeles and UCLA's Drake Stadium to compete for a spot in the Tournament's Sweet 16. With a 1-0 overtime win over UNLV in the first round of the NCAA College Cup Tournament, USO reached the second round for the first time since 1999 and for the third time in school history. A 3-0 loss to the Bruins of UCLA two days later ended San Diego's season.

Senior Marie-Claude Henry was a stand– out on the field as well as the classroom. She earned A/1-WCC Honorable Mention accolades, as well as being tabbed a Dis– trict VIII Academic All-American.

"We played well for the first twenty minutes of the game," said Greenwood about the second round loss to UCLA. "When UCLA pushed their entire team forward, the pressure was overwhelming. In the second round , you can't hold back hoping for a one or two goal loss - we had to go for it. Playing with four forwards was risky, but sitting back would do nothing for us. A corner kick or a restart outside the box would have given us a chance to change the game."

San Diego's stellar second-half finish to the '04 season brought USO recognition as one of the nation's top collegiate programs. After defeating then No. 3 Washington 2-1, Mountain West Champions Utah 3-0, and then No. 8 Santa Clara 2-1 , the Toreros cracked the NSCAA/Adidas Top-25 Poll on October 12th with a national ranking of No. 25. USO would continue in appear in the NSCAA poll throughout the remainder of the season, ending regular season play ranked 21st. "We started off 4-6-1, but the team was playing well," said Greenwood. "Obviously we weren't getting the results we hoped for, so we just made a few adjustments and stuck with them. There wasn't a turning point or major difference in the middle of the season, although our record would show otherwise, we just started scoring goals and eventually picked up the wins." In each of his two years as the head coach at USO, Greenwood has led San Diego into the NCAA's. Also responsible for the Toreros success are second-year assistant coaches Lucas Curtolo and Theresa Wagner. Greenwood was also an assistant coach at USO under John Cossaboon for five years, contributing to San Diego's current string of seven consecutive winning seasons and a sixth consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance.

"This was a good step for us as a team," Greenwood said. "We finished 8-2-2 over our last twelve games, beating a couple top ten teams, including Santa Clara. We had a real desire to become one of the better teams in the nation."

Freshman forward Amy Epsten (San Diego, CA/Our Lady of Peace HS) was named the 2004 WCC Freshman of the Year, finishing the season with a USO team-high 10 goals and 23 points. Epsten is the first-ever San Diego player to receive this league honor. Epsten was also named to the AII-WCC Second Team and the WCC's All-Freshman Team, along with being voted to Soccer Buzz's All-Far West Freshmen Team. Senior defender Kaitlyn Pruett (Encinitas, CA/La Costa Canyon HS) was the only San Diego player to be named to the AII-WCC First team. Soccer Buzz also recognized her talents after she earned Third Team All-American accolades. Pruett finished the season with three goals and two assists for eight points. A dynamic force in the backfield, Pruett and the Torero defense shutout seven different opponents in 2004.

Kaitlyn Pruett distinguished her– self as one of the best defenders

in the country. Also finishing the season with eight points as a defender, freshman Vanessa Vella (Encinitas, CA/La Costa Canyon HS) was named to the All-Freshman Team and was one of five Toreros who received Honorable Mention recognition. She also earned national recognition as one of the best freshmen in the country after being voted to Soccer Buzz's All-Far West Freshmen Team. Fellow freshman Karen Cook also made an impact in her first year, earning AII-WCC Honorable Mention. Cook finished the year with an impressive 0.93 goals against average, 87 saves, and seven shutouts. Marie-Claude Henry (St. Hayacinthe, Canada/University of Nebraska) finished the season with two goals and ten assists for 14 points and was an AII-WCC Honor– able Mention pick. For Henry, it was her third straight all-league honor. Henry was also tabbed an Academic All-American for the West Coast's District VIII. Michelle Rowe (Calgary, Alberta/Bishop McNally) was a major contributor to the Torero offense with five goals and two assists for 12 points. Rowe's Honorable Mention AII– WCC honor marks the first all-league recognition in her USO career. Veronica Ambort (Fountain Valley, CA/Fountain Valley HS) finished the season with four goals and one assist for nine points. Ambort, an 2004 AII-WCC Honorable Mention pick, scored her third game-winning goal against UNLV in overtime to send San Diego into the second round . '

USD WOMEN'S SOCCER NCAA TOURNAMENT APPEARANCES - 2004, 2003, 2002, 2001, 2000, 1999, 1996