On the strength of a solid defensive effort and a hat trick from Tiago Venturi, the UCSD men’s soccer team defeated California Collegiate Athletic Association opponent Cal State Los Angeles on the road on Sept. 27.
The Triton scoring began early, with Venturi putting his first goal past CSULA goalkeeper Raymond Wilhelm in the eighth minute of the game. The UCSD offense kept up the pressure and was able to score twice more in the first half, with an unassisted goal from Burke Fathy and a penalty kick goal from Kris Chiles.
In the second half, the Golden Eagles appeared to pick up their level of play. CSULA had several close shots that went wide, and several corner kick attempts that were stopped by UCSD goalkeeper Scott Mazurier.
CSULA’s persistence, possibly combined with Triton laziness with a large lead, allowed CSULA forward Nikos Gutrugianios to head the ball in for a goal in the 79th minute.
However, that was as close as the Golden Eagles would get. In the final 10 minutes of the match, UCSD looked as if it were playing against a high school team, dominating play at both ends of the field. Venturi scored twice more, once off a deflection from the post and another time beating the CSULA goalkeeper one-on-one to finish up his hat trick.
The win brings the Tritons to 6-2 overall and 4-2 in the CCAA, while CSULA drops to 3-7 overall and 1-5 in the CCAA. The win is the second blowout victory in a row for the Tritons. UCSD shut out San Francisco State, 4-0, on Sept. 22.
The Tritons continue their series of road games on Oct. 4 against Chico State and play at home on Oct. 11 against Cal State Stanislaus.