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It was a rare quiet Friday night on the professional sports scene in San Diego with the Padres’ off day and no other pro teams playing, but there was plenty of college action, highlighted by conference and national championships for the University of San Diego Toreros.
USD RUGBY ADVANCES TO NATIONAL QUARTER-FINALS
After winning their pool in the Collegiate Rugby Championship National 7s, defeating Maryland (24-5) and Boston College (24-0), the San Diego Toreros men’s rugby squad will face Bowling Green in the quarter-final at 12:13 p.m. PDT. The winner would face North Carolina in the semifinal at 4:10 p.m. PDT. Both games will be streamed on the “National Collegiate Rugby” YouTube channel’s Field 13 stream.
The third and final game of pool play against Missouri was canceled due to inclement weather at the Maryland SoccerPlex in Boyds, Md., not far from Washington, DC. Because both teams were already 2-0 and would advance anyways, they decided to not make up the match and San Diego was given the top seed in the pool by point differential.
The National 7s are played with seven players on each team in seven-minute halves.With fewer players to defend, they tend to be much higher scoring rugby matches than the traditional 15s.
PADRES BEGIN MEXICO CITY SERIES VS. THE GIANTS
After dropping the road series to the Chicago Cubs, the San Diego Padres head south of the border for the first regular season MLB games ever in Mexico City as they face division foe San Francisco Giants for the first time this season.
The Padres (12-13) are still trying to find their offensive stride against a mediocre-but-improving Giants (11-14) squad that has won five of their last six games. Joe Musgrove will make his second start of the season against Sean Manaea, who will be facing the Padres for the first time since playing for San Diego last season.
The first pitch is set for 3:05 p.m. at Estadio Alfredo Harp Helu with the game broadcasted locally on Bally Sports San Diego and nationally on MLB Network.
SEALS LOOK TO CLINCH NO. 1 OVERALL SEED IN THE NLL
The San Diego Seals have locked up the no. 1 seed in the West Division for the second straight season, but will go for their first National Lacrosse League regular season crown Saturday night, although they’ll need some help from the Albany FireWolves in the East.
The Seals and Buffalo Bandits are tied at the top of the NLL overall standings, but because of Buffalo’s 7-6 win over San Diego on March 25, the Seals will have to top the Bandits in order to claim their first-ever no. 1 overall seed.
The Bandits and FireWolves play at 4 p.m. with the Seals-Colorado Mammoth beginning at 7 p.m. on ESPN2 on what could be an exciting ending to the NLL regular season.
WAVE HOSTS ORLANDO PRIDE WITH FIVE-MATCH UNDEFEATED HOME STREAK
San Diego Wave FC has not lost at home yet since the Snapdragon Stadium opener last year, and they try to keep that streak alive against the Orlando Pride.
So far this season, they have won all three home matches, including their 1-0 Challenge Cup win over Portland Thorns FC last week.
LOYAL HOSTS EL PASO LOCOMOTIVE TO FINISH THREE-MATCH WEEK, LOOK TO KEEP PERFECT HOME RECORD
It’s been a wild week for San Diego Loyal SC. They opened the three-match week on Sunday, hosting the Tampa Bay Rowdies in an inter-conference matchup, winning 1-0 on Adrien Perez’s first goal of the season. Then they went to Seattle for the third round of the U.S. Open Cup where they competed in a wild extra-time loss to Major League Soccer’s Seattle Sounders FC.
Now, they will face El Paso Locomotive FC for the first time this season at Torero Stadium at 7 p.m. tonight to cap the crazy week. They have won all four home matches so far this season and look to make it five straight to open the season.