TIJUANA – The Xolos announced their preseason schedule, which includes a friendly game against Atlante on Dec. 28 in San Diego.

The professional soccer team's other preseason games are Dec. 14 in Los Angeles against a team to be announced and Dec. 21 against the Tiburones de Veracruz at Estadio Caliente, plus the San Diego game.

On Monday, the Xolos began training for the Clausura tournament at Estadio Caliente and will continue there until Dec. 5 under the guidance of coach Antonio Mohamed. They will have two training sessions per day, in addition to conditioning sessions, according to the team's sports director, Ignacio Palau.

From Dec. 5 to 16, the team will travel to Oxnard for the bulk of the training, which will be at River Ridge Field, where the Dallas Cowboys and Oakland Raiders have also trained.

"The facilities in Oxnard are very comfortable," Palau said. "The hotel, gym and beach are top flight."

The Xolos (3-5-9) finished 15th out of 18 teams in their first season in Mexico's premier soccer league. Next season they will be struggling to avoid demotion to the second level.

The Xoloitzcuintles' open the regular season on Jan. 6, when they visit Monarcas Morelia.

To date, midfielder Edgar Castillo is the only player signed in the off-season. Palau said that Sweetwater alum Joe Corona will participate in the Xolos training until he rejoins the U.S. U-23 team, which will train for the 2012 Olympic qualifying games.

The Xolos game against Potros de Atlante will be the second year in a row that the team will play a friendly game in San Diego. The team has not announced where it will be played.

On March 2, the Xolos squared off against the Los Angeles Galaxy at the University of San Diego, winning the match on penalty kicks.

Alexandra.mendoza@sandiegored.com