In its first year of competition at the Division II level, the UCSD men’s soccer team could not pull off an upset against Sonoma State University to advance in the 2000 California Collegiate Athletic Association Championship Tournament.
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The teams faced off on Friday, Nov. 3, at the campus of CSU Dominguez Hills, the host of the event. The previous meeting between these two squads resulted in a 2-1 loss for the Tritons, as freshman Jonathan Costabile scored the only goal for UCSD.
Ryan Blair and Brady Bernard returned after suffering injuries during the regular season, which gave the Tritons better artillery against Sonoma State.
The game was scoreless in the first half, which could be accredited to the time both teams took to figure out their game plan in such a crucial match. Unfortunately, Sonoma State struck first, just after four minutes into the second half.
Ivan Alvarado threw the ball to Tony Bussard, who placed it out of the reach of Triton goalkeeper Jeremy Cookson. Somona then increased the margin just two minutes later, as Dustin Boone passed a loose ball, deflected by Cookson to Brian Cox, who found the right side of the net.
“”The first two goals were avoidable and it made a different kind of game after that,”” said head coach Derek Armstrong. “”All the credit goes to Sonoma State. They are a tactically sound team and [its coach] does a good job of preparing his club.””
In the 68th minute, the Tritons got on the scoreboard with a 30-yard curving shot from Brady Bernard. With new signs of life, the Tritons looked to even the score and shift the momentum on their side. This nearly occurred when a jump ball took place near the Sonoma State goal line, but Ivan Alvarado cleared it for Sonoma State to maintain their advantage.
The dagger came at the 84th minute, as Sonoma’s Ryan Smith raced down the left sideline to set up Bussard for his second goal of the game. Five minutes later, Joel Heffren, the leading scorer for the Cossacks, assisted Dustin Boone for an open net goal. This put away the match and the season for the Tritons.
“”This season was very successful on the most part,”” junior defenseman Daniel Appel said. “”We had a young team with nine freshman, so it was a learning process. Overall, with all the injuries as well as it being our first season at the Division II level, I think this season has been bright.””
Daniel went on to predict that CSU Dominguez Hills will win the CCAA Championship and represent the league in the NCAA Division II tournament.
Two seniors — Tyler Korman and Brady Bernard — will be sorely missed in the midfield. Tyler finished the season with an assist in eight games played. Brady Bernard was second on the team with 9 points, consisting of 2 goals and 5 assists, in 14 games played.
UCSD will have to look to young, upcoming players such as Sean Summers and Ryan Mizumoto to hold up the middle of the field and be the catalyst for those around them.
With this experience under its belt, it is easy to think that UCSD will be in the running for not only a CCAA Tournament Championship, but perhaps a NCAA Division II Championship.
The Tritons’ final record in their inaugural season in Division II was 11 wins, 5 losses and 2 ties, and 9 wins, 3 losses and 2 ties in league play.
