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at Cal Poly
8/27/2026 | 4 PM
ESPN+
Aug. 27 (Thu) / 4 PM
at Cal Poly
SAN DIEGO — Mia Teran had already hit the shot once Sunday.
The freshman midfielder got a look she liked in warmups at Torero Stadium, then found it again in the 16th minute, driving a left-footed strike from beyond 25 yards off the underside of the crossbar and down for the only goal in San Diego women’s soccer’s 1-0 win over California.
“I was so happy,” Teran said after the game. “It was funny, we were actually warming up and I took the exact same shot. So, in the field, I was just like ‘I gotta take this.'”
The goal — the first of Teran’s career — started with a defensive clearance and three passes forward, with senior Emma Elias picking up the assist. It was all San Diego needed.
Chloe Walls and the back line handled the rest. The Golden Bears, now in their third season in the ACC, pushed 17 shots and seven corner kicks at the Toreros over 90 minutes but put only two on frame, and Walls turned both away — in the 26th minute and again in the 71st — for her second clean sheet of the season.
Sunday afternoon’s victory over Cal marks the Toreros’ first win over a Power Conference opponent since Aug. 21, 2016, when a 102nd-minute goal from Jackie Altschuld — then a USD midfielder and now one of San Diego’s assistant coaches — lifted the Toreros over NC State by a 1-0 margin in double overtime.
“Oh, this is massive,” head coach Greg LaPorte said postgame. “This is absolutely massive having a Power 4 team coming in here at home. We were prepared for them, we knew it was going to be difficult, and we just devised a plan, stuck to the plan, and executed the plan. The heart, the fight, the battle, just the pride of being at home here in Torero Stadium, the team did it tonight. We went deep into our roster…it was a collective effort. Credit to our team for putting in the effort and leaving it all out there on the field.”
Twenty Toreros saw the field on Sunday, including nine of them off the bench. After recording just one shot before halftime, San Diego produced six after it — Ruby Shoots in the 53rd, Gianna Melton in the 62nd, blocked attempts from Jonnie Quiroz and Tamia Graham in the 76th and 77th, a Marissa Morales effort that forced a save in the 86th and a Maquena O’Callaghan look in the closing seconds.
“It’s definitely a confidence booster,” Teran said, “and I feel like this game really helped us mentally.”
The win moves San Diego to 1-1-1 and hands California its second loss in four matches at 0-2-2. This victory is the Toreros’ second win in nine all-time meetings with the Golden Bears.
“You can quote me on this…there’s a lot more to come (for USD this season),” LaPorte added.
UP NEXT
San Diego hits the road Thursday, Aug. 27, for a 4 p.m. match at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo. The match streams on ESPN+.