Don’t get tricked, your vote is a treat. The USD Vista wants you to vote. Don’t get tricked, your vote is a treat. The USD Vista wants you to vote. Don’t get tricked, your vote is a treat. The USD Vista wants you to vote. Don’t get tricked, your vote is a treat. The USD Vista wants you to vote. Don’t get tricked, your vote is a treat. The USD Vista wants you to vote. Don’t get tricked, your vote is a treat. The USD Vista wants you to vote. Don’t get tricked, your vote is a treat. The USD Vista wants you to vote. Don’t get tricked, your vote is a treat. The USD Vista wants you to vote. Don’t get tricked, your vote is a treat. The USD Vista wants you to vote. Don’t get tricked, your vote is a treat. The USD Vista wants you to vote. Don’t get tricked, your vote is a treat. The USD Vista wants you to vote.
Don’t get tricked, your vote is a treat.
The USD Vista wants you to vote. Don’t get tricked, your vote is a treat. The USD Vista wants you to vote. Don’t get tricked, your vote is a treat.
The USD Vista wants you to vote. Don’t get tricked, your vote is a treat. The USD Vista wants you to vote. Don’t get tricked, your vote is a treat.
The USD
Vista wants you to vote. Don’t get tricked, your vote is a treat. The USD
Vista wants you to vote. Don’t get tricked, your vote is a treat. The USD Vista
wants you to vote. Don’t get tricked, your vote is a treat. The USD Vista wants you to vote. Don’t get tricked, your vote is a treat. The USD Vista wants you to vote. Don’t get tricked, your vote is a treat.
The USD Vista wants you to vote.
Don’t get tricked, your vote is a treat. The USD Vista wants you to vote. Don’t get tricked, your vote is a treat. The USD Vista wants you to vote. Don’t get tricked, your vote is a treat.
The USD Vista wants you to vote. Don’t get tricked, your vote is a treat. The USD Vista wants you to vote. Don’t get tricked, your vote is a treat. The USD Vista wants you to vote. Don’t get tricked, your vote is a treat. The USD Vista wants you to vote. Don’t get tricked, your vote is a treat. The USD Vista wants you to vote. Don’t get tricked, your vote is a treat. The USD Vista wants you to vote. Don’t get tricked, your vote is a treat. The USD Vista wants you to vote. Don’t get tricked, your vote is a treat.
The USD Vista wants you to vote. Don’t get tricked, your vote is a treat. The USD Vista wants you to vote. Don’t get tricked, your vote is a treat. The USD Vista wants you to vote. Don’t get tricked, your vote is a treat. The USD Vista wants you to vote. Don’t get tricked, your vote is a treat. The USD Vista wants you to vote. Don’t get tricked, your vote is a treat. The USD Vista wants you to vote. Don’t get tricked, your vote is a treat. The USD Vista wants you to vote. Don’t get tricked, your vote is a treat. The USD Vista wants you to vote.
Don’t get tricked, your vote is a treat. The USD Vista wants you to vote. Don’t get tricked, your vote is a treat.
The USD Vista wants you to vote.
JACKIE MARQUEZ EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
2. This San Diego home is regarded as “America’s most haunted house.”
4. This tri-colored, triangular treat was named Halloween’s most contentious candy.
5. The most frequently googled Halloween costume in San Diego, according to Google Frightgeist
6. Flowers often put on Dia de los Muertos ofrendas
7. In this Halloween classic, chaos ensues after a virgin lights a black flame candle.
Across
15. Undead brain-eater Down
1. Celebration taking place on Oct. 31
3. Bulbous herb that’s said to ward off vampires
9. Celebration also starting on Oct. 31
10. A witch’s ride
13. _____ or treat
14. Who you gonna call?
8. O-Lantern’s first name
11. It’s believed that Halloween originated from this ancient Celtic festival.
12. This festive fruit isn’t always orange. Sometimes, it’s white, yellow, red, blue or green.
Comic of the week
Trick or treat?
Hallock
Hallinan - Advertising Manager
Emma Pirhala/The USD Vista
ARTS & FEATURE
Time to guac and roll
Students share their highlights from the annual Avocado Festival
LARA DOMINIQUE SOLANTE COPY EDITOR
JACKIE MARQUEZ EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Every year, USD Dining hosts the Avocado Festival to celebrate all things avocado. The event, held outside the Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice, allows students to try a variety of different food products. Vendors hand out food and beverage samples, ranging from kombucha to avocado chocolate mousse, some of which were fan favorites.
Even though the festival is popular among students, it wasn’t always focused on avocados. Loryn Johnson, Marketing Director and Licensing Director for Auxiliary Services, explained how the festival began.
“We actually started our annual festivals in the fall and the spring in 2013, and our first couple of festivals in the fall were apple,” Johnson said. “Then we switched to avocado a couple years after that when they started becoming hugely popular.”
USD sophomore Jane Hunt went with her friends to the event after hearing about it in class and shared some of her highlights from the festival.
“I got a coupon for a Chobani creamer for free,” Hunt said. “I also tried an avocado mousse — a chocolate mousse — and it didn’t taste like avocado at all. It was great.”
USD sophomore Alessandra Fiore also tried a few treats at the Avocado Fest, including a flavored soda from one of the vendors, which was her favorite item at the event.
“I got a really nice smoothie that had cinnamon, banana and avocado in it from Oatly,” Fiore said. “We also tried dirty sodas, except [the vendor] called them ‘clean sodas’ because they were
from Olipop. [The vendor] put flavoring in it, and we did orange cream soda with dragon fruit flavoring. That was delicious.”
Aside from the tasty samples, students attended the Avocado Festival to connect with the USD community.
For USD sophomore Kiara Bowser, the Avocado Fest was a great way to see everyone come together and celebrate.
“I like that it brings students together,” Bowser shared. “It gives [students] a chance to try new, fun foods.”
USD senior John Cizin, another festival attendee who went to support his friends in the student guacamole making contest, shared the same sentiment.
“I look forward to [the Avocado Festival] and the Strawberry Festival in the spring,” Cizin said. “It’s just fun. Me and my friends like to sample stuff. There are vendors, and we’ll try and see which ones are pretty good so that we can pick some stuff up from them later in the year. It’s just nice, and I like the music and community.”
One of the highlights of the Avocado Festival was the student guacamole making contest. Students competed to make the best guacamole, which the judges determined based on technique, taste and presentation. The winners of the contest, USD juniors Hailey Taylor and Ava Minney, will have their guacamole featured at Bert’s Bistro for the remainder of the fall semester. This made it a high-stakes competition.
As the judges prepared to taste the contestants’ creations, the pressure was on for the participants to impress them with their guacamole skills.
USD Chef Manager of Pavilion Dining Alex Weltz outlined his criteria for the best guacamole.
“I’m looking for nice knife
cuts,” Weltz stated. “Nothing too spicy because I’m not a huge fan of spice. Nice balance of flavors, and the main thing is a nice presentation.”
Even though the judges seemed pretty stern this year, USD first-years Maserati Hann and Kinsey Runquest shared their excitement in competing as a team for the first time.
“Overall, I’m just very excited,” Hann said. “Unsure if we’re going to win, but I’m sure we’ll crush it either way.”
Runquest shared that she was mostly there for the experience.
“I’m just here to make good guacamole so I can eat it afterwards, mainly,” Runquest stated. “There’s a lot of good ingredients, and I’ve made guacamole before, so we’re just going to cut it up and hand it to [Hann] to stir.”
As the countdown for the competition began, the tension in the air was palpable. Students ran toward the ingredients table after hearing, “Go!,” grabbing avocados, tomatoes, onions and more. Back at their stations, the teams seemed to be neck and neck, chopping, mashing and
stirring for the students to see and for the judges to judge.
In the end, USD juniors Taylor and Minney brought home the win, confident from the start that they were going to do so. The two have been roommates since their first year and won the avocado toast making competition during last year’s Avocado Festival.
“It’s epic,” Taylor declared. “Like, I just knew coming in that we were going to win again.”
Minney shared a strategy that the pair learned from their previous win that helped them this time around.
“We learned last time that if you add more of, like, the fun ingredients and unique flavors, it’s a bit more creative,” Minney explained. “And a lot of salt. People don’t ever add enough salt. Ever.”
Taylor also noted that the splashes of orange and pomegranate that they added might have aided in their victory.
For those who didn’t get to take home the win, getting to compete was victory enough.
USD senior Shelly Coleman explained how much she enjoyed the contest, even though her and her teammate weren’t
able to secure first place.
“It was really fun and exciting,” Coleman said. “It was fun to use my chef skills. I was looking forward to [the guacamole making contest] because I did [the avocado toast making contest] last year. It’s like ‘Food Network,’ in a cooking competition.”
Coleman’s teammate, USD senior Ethan Dixon, also enjoyed the competition, despite being a last-minute addition. Coleman invited Dixon to join her team two hours before the event.
“The competition was surprisingly a lot of fun,” Dixon shared. “I actually hate guacamole and I never eat it, but it was actually a lot of fun to make it.”
The USD Avocado Festival brought students together for a day of flavor, fun and friendly competition. From the vendors’ creative samples to the exciting guacamole making contest, students were able to enjoy themselves and all of the avocado-related treats. If you missed this year’s Avocado Festival, USD Dining hosts a different festival every semester. Next semester, students can indulge in all things strawberry at the Strawberry Festival.
Students compete in the ‘Guac around the Kroc’ guacamole making contest.
Shannen Swars/The USD Vista
Students were able to try different samples featuring avocado. Shannen Swars/The USD Vista
Kombucha vendor serving up samples to USD students. Shannen Swars/The USD Vista
ARTS & CULTURE
End of October festivities blossom
Exploring Diwali, Dia de los Muertos and Halloween traditions
ELLIE SKJERSAA ARTS & CULTURE EDITOR
San Diego may not have the fall leaves and the chilly breeze that characterize an October day, but nevertheless, the nights still get longer and the festivities still ensue. With celebrations such as Diwali, Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) and Halloween all taking place within the same week, communities across San Diego and the USD campus prepared for these days of revelry. This year, a special crossover is taking place with Diwali, which begins on the same day as Halloween making for a cultural blend of very distinct traditions.
Diwali, the Festival of Lights, is a Hindu festival that is largely celebrated in India, but can be found all around the world. Many other faiths, such as Buddhism and Sikhism, observe this holiday, making it one of the most important annual celebrations in India. The fiveday festival acknowledges the victory of light over darkness, or in other words, good over evil and knowledge over ignorance. For USD senior Priyal Gupta, it is important to her to understand Diwali and her culture so she is able to pass these traditions down to her future family members.
“I think as information is passed from generation to generation, a lot of things get lost, especially not having as many connections with oldergeneration Indians because I moved here,” Gupta said. “It’s important for me to get as much information as possible so I can teach my kids this and they can have some information on what life in India is like, what the religion is like and how their grandparents lived.”
Rituals such as fireworks, feasts, prayers, story-telling and dance all take place over these five days, cultivating a time of love, community and a celebration of cultural identity. Different traditions and rituals take place in different communities but, ultimately, the story remains the same. With vibrant colors and beloved traditions, students like Gupta are looking forward to this year’s USD Diwali celebrations.
“I’m really looking forward to it,” Gupta said. “I’m from Seattle and I feel like there’s a lot of Indian people. But [in San Diego], I don’t really get the opportunity to meet with people of my culture and celebrate it together. Being away from home at USD, it feels kind of isolating in a way. We’re in this bubble where we can’t celebrate as much so this event is really great. Now we have somewhere to celebrate and people to celebrate with because before we would just celebrate with our families and now we don’t really have that.”
Like Diwali, Dia de los
Muertos is an annual celebration that brings communities together. This Mexican holiday takes place on the days of Nov. 1-2 but can stretch out over more days, depending on location. This celebration has roots in MesoAmerican cultures dating back to more than 3,000 years ago. Today, it is largely celebrated in Latino communities. It is believed that death is a path to a new life and that on Dia de los Muertos, ancestors return to visit their living relatives. Briana Torres, second-year graduate student and president of SOLES Graduate Association, shared some insight into the celebration.
“[It’s important to] remind yourself that family’s not here forever,” Torres said. “It’s a way to spend time with those that are here and to recognize that those who aren’t here anymore are always a part of our lives and to try to stay positive. It can get hard throughout the year, but having that one day to remember them goes a long way.”
Families welcome back late ancestors in a celebration that involves food, drink, song and stories. This reunion often takes place at family graves, which are decorated, and involves the creation of ofrendas — also known as an altar or an offering — which honors family members who have passed. The ofrendas feature photographs and personal items from their lives. Torres shared how she incorporates this into her life at university.
“I’m not currently near any of my family’s graves, so the best thing I can do is to create my own ofrenda and just try to do it in my own way,” Torres said. “I’m able to do it in my own cute little Gen Z way where I’m honoring those who were a part of my life in the past. You never know how they’re going to turn out every year. It depends on the person, it depends on the representation — what do you want to show, who do you want to show? For me, getting to see the design every year is nice to see.”
Here at USD, there are many ofrendas around campus that have been created by student organizations and different departments. The Honors
Program, The Association of Chicanx Activists, The USD MEChA chapter, the SOLES and Latinx Graduate Student Associations and the Wellness Center are some that will host ofrendas during the week of Oct. 28 - Nov. 4. All students are welcome to contribute to the ofrendas.
Similar to Dia de los Muertos, Halloween’s original traditions involved creating altars to honor the spirits of their ancestors. Although today this holiday values fun costumes, eating sweets and enjoying time with friends and family, this was not always the case.
Halloween was derived from pagan Celtic traditions of Samhain and has now transformed into a celebration of the supernatural, whether that be ghosts, witches or otherworldly creatures. Samhain recognized the end of summer harvest and the start of winter.
When the Celtics converted to Christianity, the first day of November was declared “All Saints Day,” which eventually transformed into Halloween. When Europeans immigrated to America, they brought these traditions with them, making Halloween a popular celebration. Traditions of trick-or-treating, pumpkin carving, costume parties and haunted houses are all part of spooky Halloween night. Students share why this tradition is important to them.
“It is an opportunity to express myself,” USD senior Grace Elian said. “Playing with makeup and being creative every year is my favorite part about [Halloween]. I think it’s [also] one of the most social holiday’s that we have because we go to our neighbors and say, ‘Hey what’s up’ and we don’t usually do that for [other holidays].”
However, she explained that dressing up is not something USD students partake in during school hours.
“On campus, you don’t really see [people dressing up] as much, and I would like that,” Elian said. “Maybe if there was a giveaway or a time during dead hours where students could show off their costumes, that could be a reminder of childhood memories.
USD hosts events for all students whether they celebrate Diwali, Dia de los Muertos or Halloween. All of these festivities, although distinct in their rituals and deeply embedded with cultural differences, have some similarities. They ultimately have a common goal of uniting communities to celebrate and share identities with peers and friends.
The Diwali celebration in the Warren Hall on Oct. 28. Shannen Swars/USD Vista
Students painting Diyas— oil-filled lamps— at a USD Diwali Celebration. Shannen Swars/USD Vista
USD offered $10 tickets to Balboa Park Haunted Trails for students. Photo courtesy of @hauntedtrailbp/Instagram
Altar exhibited in the UCs honoring lost lives in Mexico and Palestine. Shannen Swars/USD Vista
Ofrenda outside the CHWP office honoring lives lost to domestic violence. Ellie Skjersaa/USD Vista
OPINION
Overcoming the stigma
Asking
JULIE FROMM ASST. OPINION EDITOR
Sixty-one percent of the Gen Z population has been diagnosed with anxiety, according to a study by harmony Healthcare IT, a data management firm for healthcare organizations. This statistic is why our generation has been labeled the “Anxious Generation,” as unprecedented amounts of young adults are struggling with anxiety disorders.
Anxiety is something I’ve had to grapple with for my entire life. Worrying feels like it comes naturally to me and is how I have navigated my life, whether it’s trying to make decisions about my future, maintaining my relationships with my friends, trying to get assignments turned in on time or even making simple dinner plans.
Although I’ve found ways to cope with it as I’ve grown up, my anxiety recently shifted and morphed into something unmanageable. I was up all night tossing and turning, unable to find sleep. I had an extremely low appetite, and I couldn’t garner the energy to go to school. After some time had passed in this cycle, I realized that I needed help. But when I tried to ask for it, it felt like an insurmountable hurdle.
I am very lucky to have family and friends who love and support me, but my anxiety and self-doubt led
for help can be difficult — but it’s worth it
me to believe that by asking them for help, I would be burdening them. I worried that they would think that I was overreacting, that I should just toughen up, that everyone has anxieties and that my situation is not unique. Not only did I not want to ask for help, but I believed that no one could understand what I was feeling, even if I tried to explain. On the surface, it looked like my friends were balancing school, work and relationships perfectly, and my classmates didn’t seem overwhelmed by the workloads we were given. These thoughts prevented me from asking for help for quite a while, and I allowed myself to believe my anxiety when it told me that asking for help was too big a task to complete. I began to feel completely alone, but I knew that I couldn’t carry the weight of these feelings by myself.
I finally decided that the only way I was going to get better was by tackling my fears head on. I started by doing research on how I was feeling; I hoped that this would make me feel less alone in my struggles, and I was right. A survey from the American College Health Association, an association dedicated to creating healthy campus communities, found that three out of five university students experienced overwhelming anxiety, and 40% of respondents felt such severe symptoms of depression
that they had difficulty functioning. College can be a whirlwind of change — living independently, taking care of yourself, balancing schoolwork, new friendships and new responsibilities. I still often find myself struggling to balance my college life, even as a fourth-year student. Trying to manage my schoolwork and my severe anxiety at the same time felt like an impossible task.
Ultimately, what stopped me from asking for help with my anxiety was embarrassment and shame. Being vulnerable about how I am feeling is not something I am good at, and it was difficult for me to explain to my loved ones that things felt like they were getting out of hand. I felt that by telling them, I was admitting that I had a problem, and I didn’t want to have a problem. There are a multitude of reasons why it can be so hard for people to ask for help. According to Manfred F.R. Kets de Vries, a psychoanalyst and clinical professor of leadership and organizational change feelings of vulnerability, senses of victimhood, and the fear of rejection are just a few reasons why people could struggle to find a way to ask for help. I was so preoccupied with the idea that people would think something was wrong with me that I stopped myself from seeking help when there was really something wrong. Overcoming these feelings of shame and embarrassment was difficult, but once I did, I found that my friends and family were ready to help me through this rough patch. They pointed me towards resources that could help me, like therapy, and spent time talking with me about
how I was feeling for as long as I wanted. They showed me no judgment — they only wanted to help me through my difficult emotions. Even as they helped, I still found myself feeling self-conscious. But as time went on, those feelings were alleviated. Now that I am starting to find ways to manage my anxiety and work through my worries, my only regret is that I didn’t ask for help sooner. There are resources all around us at USD that are ready to help students when they need it. USD’s My Wellness Portal and the Be Well USD website are two places to find resources that our campus offers to help students through difficult times. Not only can speaking to professionals help, but having open conversations with friends can be an excellent resource for comfort. Once I opened up to my friends and family about my anxieties, I realized that many of them had experienced or were experiencing similar feelings, and I felt less alone.
It took me a long time to realize that I am not defined by my anxiety,\ and that asking for help is not a sign of weakness, but a sign of strength. Although it can feel overwhelming to say the words, “I need help,” it is always worth it.
The USD Counseling Center has numerous accesible resources for our mental health.
ZOE ROGERS OPINION EDITOR
Halloween has a charm unlike any other holiday. Not only is it associated with the crisp air and colors of the fall, but it also has many attributes that allow it to be the best holiday in comparison to the commonly celebrated holidays in the United States. These holidays include: Christmas, Thanksgiving, Fourth of July, Easter, New Years and Valentine’s Day. Halloween’s appeal, activities, traditions and seasonal characteristics make Halloween the best holiday celebrated in the United States. Halloween takes place in the middle of fall, which is arguably the best season. According to a poll created by Morning Consult, an American business intelligence company, 41% of Americans reported fall as their favorite season. The appeal of Halloween is associated with the many reasons why people love fall — the changing trees, the scented candles, the seasonal flavors (such as general flavors that appear in the fall like pumpkin, maple, cinamon etc.) and the activities.
Halloween is also an incredibly festive holiday.
OPINION
In favor of the ghouls
Halloween is the best holiday
During the month of October and the latter half of September there is a build up of anticipation before Oct. 31. Even in September, I’ve seen Halloween decorations and Halloweenthemed snacks in stores. Not only is the anticipation high, the decorative scene that Halloween brings is highly entertaining and creative. Halloween allows for homeowners to tap into their Halloween spirit by decorating their houses for the holiday’s arrival. Spooky decorations, such as cobwebs, grave stones, skeletons, black cats, Jack O’ Lanterns and ghosts begin to take over the neighborhoods of cities, lingering around the houses of those who celebrate Halloween.
The festive enthusiasm doesn’t stop at the decorations. Halloween also comes with limitless activities to do with your family and friends. Haunted houses, scary movies, pumpkin carving and trickor-treating are just a few examples of fall activities associated with Halloween.
If you’re ever looking for an excuse to watch a scary movie and feel a burst of adrenaline waiting for the jumpscares, Halloween is the perfect time to do so. As a kid, I was not much of a fan of scary situations,
and I’m still not. To still be a part of the Halloween celebration, I carved pumpkins with my friends. Here in San Diego, there are multiple opportunities for students to engage in Halloween activities, such as haunted houses, festivals, pumpkin patches, amusement parks and more.
The enthusiasm of Halloween is also fueled by our participation, wearing costumes. Halloween costumes are not limited to any age or demographic, and that is the beauty of the holiday. From five-yearsold to 50, you can continue to wear a costume to Halloween celebrations and you will never be shamed for it. Part of Halloween’s spirit lives in our participation in its basic tradition of wearing a costume. The best part is, there are no rules and you can be anything you want.
While the enthusiasm around Halloween is refreshing, during a long span of time with no holidays or days off, it’s easy to say Halloween is not the best holiday. Christmas, for example, has the same connection with the winter season that Halloween has with fall. Christmas also holds a special association with winter’s seasonal traditions, such as hanging ornaments on the Christmas tree and winter flavors, including peppermint.
Even though Christmas is similar to Halloween in regards to its prolonged enthusiasm throughout the month of December — and even the latter part of November — you don’t have to be affiliated with a specific religion to celebrate Halloween. Halloween is even celebrated in
other countries like All Hallow’s Eve in Europe and Día de los Muertos in Mexico. Christmas, on the other hand, does have a religious association with Christianity. While many individuals who are not religious still celebrate Christmas, there is still a religious element.
On top of that, Halloween isn’t as expensive as Christmas. Personally, I spend hundreds of dollars on Christmas decorations and gifts for my friends, family members, roommates, etc. For Halloween, however, I only buy a costume and maybe some candy or decorations. Because there’s less of an aspect of commercialization associated with Halloween, especially for college students, celebrating Halloween is less expensive than Chritsmas. Halloween’s charm is everlasting. You can maintain the same enthusiasm for Halloween at 50-years-old as you did at five. The holiday’s strong association with fall proves it to be the best holiday celebrated in the United States.
The Halloween spirit lives on through our traditions, activities, costumes and seasonal flavors. Its presence is like none other and we should continue to nurture it.
Take advantage of the opportunities to dress up on Halloween.
Photo courtesy of @Ulziibayar Badamdorj/ Unsplash
A great way to engage in fall and Halloween activities is to go to a pumpkin patch.
Shannen Swars/ The USD Vista
Men’s soccer ranked No. 4 in the country Crowd shows up for the win against Oregon State
PRIYA COOPER SPORTS EDITOR
On Saturday night, Oct. 26, USD men’s soccer defeated the Oregon State Beavers at home in San Diego. The Toreros are currently ranked No. 4 in the country and are on the rise after their 2-0 victory over Oregon. USD stands at 10-1-2 (4-0-0 in West Coast Conference [WCC] play), aiming for a third consecutive WCC title. Their national ranking, as of Oct. 29, indicates that they are strong prospects for NCAA Tournament qualification.
USD and Oregon State have not played each other since 2003, making the game a notable match. The Toreros are scheduled to face University of the Pacific, University of Portland and Loyola Maymount University in November.
USD junior Natalie Green, an attendee at Saturday’s game, discussed how the Torero Stadium came to life.
“It’s fun to see a lot of people coming out and supporting the Toreros during these intense games,” Green said.
With two goals by USD junior and forward Samy Kanaan, USD men’s soccer secured a decisive 2-0 win over conference leaders Oregon State (8-3-2, 4-1-0 WCC).
Kanaan scored early, connecting with Ethan Warne for a give and go that set up a remarkable finish inside the box in the 17th minute. The play marked Warne’s second
assist for the season. Only two minutes later, Kanaan converted a penalty kick, giving USD a lead that they held firmly for the remaining 70 minutes of the match.
The Torero defensive line, alongside sophomore goalkeeper Donovan Parisian, successfully shutout Oregon State, who previously led the conference in total goals scored. Kanaan praised his team for their efforts in a post-game interview with USD Men’s soccer media.
“Our back line was as solid as I could have wanted it,” Kanaan said. “No one could have wanted more — or a better — defensive effort. We limited them to only two shots on goal, and we were just unbelievably solid defensively.”
Kanaan and Parisian were both named the Credit Union 1 West Coast Conference Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week after the game this past Saturday. Kanaan is now tied for the WCC lead in goals scored this season. It is also the third time this season that Kanaan has been named the WCC’s Offensive Player of the Week. Additionally, this is the second time this season that Parisian has earned the Defensive Player of the Week.
The game had a turnout of approximately 2,107 fans in attendance. While the attendance record was not broken, the atmosphere was just what the team needed, pushing through a pivotal
game. People were making plenty of noise and cheering on the Toreros with the help of hundreds of vuvuzelas that were provided to attendees by
USD Athletics. After observing the crowd, USD senior Mary Kate Cambria, who was helping work the game, couldn’t help but share her excitement.
“Honestly, it’s really good to see such a good show out for San Diego tonight,” Cambria said. “I feel like the energy is really great, and it’s nice to see people coming together to support men’s soccer when they are doing well.”
As fans celebrated the team’s latest win, USD junior Gabriella Pardo, another fan in attendance at Torero Stadium, reflected on the energy of the game.
“I’m excited for our school as soccer has been doing so well this season,” Pardo said. “I hope people continue to show their support for the team as they progress. I do think we can get more people to come out and watch though, the team’s ranking is really impressive.”
San Diego’s 2-0 victory over Oregon State not only solidified their position atop the West Coast Conference, but also showcased the team’s defensive and offensive strengths. The Toreros continued their campaign for a third consecutive WCC championship title on Oct. 30, competing against San Francisco in Northern California. Following San Francisco, the Toreros will play Pacific on Saturday, Nov. 2 in Stockton, CA. The San Diego men’s soccer final regular season home match will be against Portland on Saturday, Nov. 9.
USD men’s soccer players celebrating with their coach after the game.
Photo courtesy of @usdmsoccer/Instagram
Fans root on the Toreros using vuvuzelas provided by USD Athletics.
Photo
The San Diego sports curse San Diego has a long history of sporting tragedy SPORTS
LUKAS BLANKENSTEIN CONTRIBUTOR
Curses have long been intertwined with sports. Some curses include the Billy Goat curse, which fans claim caused the Chicago Cubs to go over 100 years without winning a world series. The Bobby Layne curse promised that the Detroit Lions will not win a championship for another 50 years. Spectators say that the Quinto Partido curse prevents the Mexican national soccer team from progressing past the round of 16 in the World Cup. These curses have long been used to explain teams, cities and even countries’ sporting misfortunes.
One city that might also be cursed is San Diego. In terms of size, San Diego is the largest city in the U.S. to never win a championship in one of the big five sports leagues (MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL, MLS). It’s not just about the losses though, but the way in which the losses have happened.
The Padres are the final professional team left in San Diego, and they have been largely unsuccessful throughout their time in the city. The team is currently one of the five teams that has never won a World Series and are ranked No. 28 out of 30 teams in both the regular season and postseason win percentages (.467 and .385
respectively). They are also in the bottom five teams, in terms of playoff appearances. While the Padres made the World Series in two of their first three playoff appearances, they only managed to win one game between those two appearances and have not made it since.
Just this season, the Padres had another brutal heartbreak.
After going up 2-1 against the rival Los Angeles Dodgers — scoring 21 runs in their first 20 innings —the Padres were completely shut down, scoring 0 runs in the last 24 innings.
The other longtime former sports team in San Diego was the formerly San Diego, now Los Angeles, Chargers. The Chargers came to San Diego in 1961 and spent 56 seasons in San Diego before leaving in 2016. They have never won a Superbowl, but they won an AFL championship in 1963, before the AFL-NFL merger. Including their time in LA, the Chargers are ranked No. 17 with a .497 win percentage. However, they are the third worst team in the playoffs with a .387 win percentage.
Many of these losses have been brutal. Most famous among those losses were the games in 2006 and 2009. In 2006, the Chargers were 14-2 and the No. 1 seed in the playoffs, hosting the 12-4 Patriots in the Divisional round. With a little under seven minutes left in the fourth quarter
and the Chargers up 21-13, free safety Marlon Mcree intercepted an errant fourth down pass by Tom Brady to seemingly seal the game, only to then fumble the football. This allowed the Patriots to continue the drive, eventually scoring before winning the game 24-21. The game ultimately cost coach Marty Schottenheimer his job. To add insult to injury,
the Chargers had a chance in the dying seconds of the game to kick a game-tying 54 yard field goal, but the kick went too wide. In 2009, the Chargers were the second best team in their conference, finishing 13-3. They hosted the 9-7 New York Jets, but lost 17-14 in a game that saw kicker Nate Kaeding miss all three of his field goal attempts. The Chargers only made the playoffs one more time in their final seven seasons in San Diego. This stretch of seasons included 2010, where the Chargers had the best offense and defense by yards gained and allowed, and yet still missed the playoffs.
Part of this curse has also been the number of teams leaving San Diego for other cities. In addition to the aforementioned Chargers, two basketball teams, the San Diego Rockets (1967-1971) and San Diego Clippers (1978-1984) both called San Diego home before abandoning the city.
Many believe that San Diego is due for another team, including USD junior Rebecca Leiva.
“I think San Diego needs more sports,” Leiva said. “San Diego has a great community who will cheer on more teams.”
Those wishing for more teams are in luck. The MLS has announced that a new team, San Diego FC, will begin playing in the 2025 season. With women’s
sports growing in popularity year after year, the FC Wave of the National Women’s Soccer League is set to keep growing. It’s hard to believe that San Diego is cursed because there isn’t the same smoking gun that many other curses have. There is no grand story as to why San Diego has yet to win a championship. There is no billy goat being denied from San Diego’s stadiums like the Cubs, no scorned ex-quarterbacks promising the demise of a San Diego franchise like the Lions and no scandal involving San Diego players faking their ages like in Mexico. For that reason, many San Diego sports fans would disagree that sports in the city are cursed. USD senior Kyle Smeenge disagrees with the idea of San Diego as being cursed.
“No, I don’t think we’re cursed,” Smeenge stated. “I know [of] some of the rough games and seasons, but I still don’t believe we’re cursed.”
Whether or not San Diego is cursed, it is likely to remain up for debate. Cursed or not, San Diego is certainly high on the list of long suffering sports cities. However, many other teams, cities and countries have been supposedly cursed to never win, only to break through at the end. One day, San Diego might break the curse, if it even exists, that lingers over the city.
The Padres lost to the Dodgers on the way to the World Series, further proving a possible curse.
Photo courtesy of @padres/Instagram
San Diego has a history of getting close to big wins, but ultimately losing in the final stages.
