The University if San Diego booked their passage to the ACR DIAA final with a 43-26 defeat of Western Washington this past weekend in San Diego.
The Toreros were looking for some measure of revenge after these two met last year in the ACR playoff, with the Vikings coming away 30-17 winners.
USD decided to play with the wind at their back in the first half and the decision paid off early as the Toreros quickly worked into the opposition 22. An initial break from Devin Hoovel got San Diego close the ball was spun wide to Shane Jamison, who beat his opposite, stepped past the final defender and was in for the try.
Michael Lewis converted and it was 7-0. Western Washington responded with some smart with tactical kicking from flyhalf Max Stone to put the Vikes close to the tryline. USD failed to exit cleanly and patience from the WWU forward pack led a try from lock Aidan Aschoff. The conversion from Stone put the score at 7-7 after about 15 minutes.
But the rest of the first half belonged to San Diego. The first big play was when Seni Fagbeni charged down a clearance kick from Stone. After a hurried Vikings clearance kick the Toreros were running phases in the 22 again and staying patient. Lewis recognized space on the weak side and center Daniel Suhr saw a half gap and reached over to score.
San Diego were working well together from 1 through 15 and the team's hustle showed in the next try. After a penalty against WWU, Lewis kicked to the corner but failed to find touch. As WWU collected the ball on their own tryline, Nate Leff raced in and made a nice open-field tackle. The tackle jarred the ball loose and Shane Jamison was on the spot to pick the ball up and score in the corner. Lewis would convert for a 19-7 lead.
Jamison was just getting started as the loose forward recognized space on the weak side with the Toreros just outside their own 22. The rangy flanker would beat six defenders before being dragged down inside the Western Washington 22.
The Toreros consolidated from there before Paul Habeeb got the ball and showed his elusiveness in beating five defenders (all tight five forwards) to run in to score.
USD would finish off the half with a Michael Ramos pick-and-go to put the score at 29-7 at halftime.
