With the playoffs weeks away, The UCSD men’s soccer team helped its cause by defeating rival California State University San Bernardino 2-0.

The victory improved the Tritons’ season record to 11-2-2, 9-2-2 in conference play.

Junior Daniel Appel scored an early goal and freshman Jonathan Costabile scored later on to seal the win for the Tritons, who improved their unbeaten streak to eight games.

“”We got a quick goal early on that helped to set the pace of the game,”” said freshman goalkeeper Jeremy Cookson. “”This time they came out very tough and it took us a while to start stringing things together. In all, though, I think that San Bernardino played a better game this time, and we did well to beat them.””

The victory, however, was marred by the knee injury of Ryan Mizumoto, one of the top midfielders the Tritons have in their lineup. He will miss the remainder of the season.

“”Ryan’s injury is a major one and a major blow to the team,”” said head coach Derek Armstrong. “”He was the unity that kept everything going, and we will sorely miss him.””

Freshman Sean Summers also commented that with Mizumoto out of the lineup, someone will have to step up and play well in the midfield.

“”When Ryan was taken out of the game we struggled to find our rhythm,”” Summers said. “”After halftime we came out hard and put the game away early. After that, they were done and we were able to experiment a little.””

As for the rest of the season, the men’s soccer team has an away game with Cal Poly Pomona on Oct. 27. The last match against Pomona ended in a thrilling overtime goal by Tyler Girimonte to lift the Tritons to victory.

After that comes a UCSD alumni match; the time has yet to be announced. United States International University comes to town for a final nonconference showdown with UCSD on Monday, just before the California Collegiate Athletic Association championships begin.

When asked how the Tritons would approach facing teams as CSU Dominguez Hills and Sonoma State — the only teams to defeat the Tritons this year — the response was clear: revenge.

“”Revenge would definitely be nice against Dominguez Hills and Sonoma,”” Cookson said. “”Who doesn’t want another shot at Dominguez Hills? They’re definitely a great team and I’d really like a chance to play them again. From here on out all that matters is the next game. We can’t get ahead of ourselves.””

A similar response was given to the question of teamwork. The amount of unity this team has is quite evident.

“”I think we have had success in the past month because we play for each other,”” Summers said. “”There are no players on the team who think only of themselves. Our team is very close and we have learned to play well with each other.””

The next two matches will be a test to see how the Tritons fill the void Mizumoto filled up so well. The team has bounced back from two major injuries this year, so adversity is its oyster.

“”We look forward to going against the best the conference has to offer this next week,”” Armstrong said. “”We, however, have two games to find out what we can do to fill the shoes of Ryan.””