After closing out the 2002 season by winning five of its last seven games and advancing to the postseason for the first time, the Triton menís soccer team opened this fall schedule by going 4-2.
UCSD came out and made a bold statement, winning the season opener 3-0 at Azusa Pacific on Sept. 3, and the Tritons followed that up with a 5-1 victory at home against CSU San Bernardino one week later. In those games, UCSD got help from some unfamiliar sources on the team, including freshman midfielder Brett Maurer, who scored the first goal against APU in his first collegiate start, and junior defender Luke Russell, who notched a hat trick to record the first three goals of his collegiate career against CSUSB.
The Tritons were then involved in their first real battle of the season on Sept. 13, when they fell 2-1 on the road to California Collegiate Athletic Association foe Cal Poly Pomona. UCSD failed to capitalize on many opportunities against Pomona, which was outshot 14-8 and yielded seven corner kicks to the Tritons.
In its next contest, UCSD faced another CCAA South Division opponent in Grand Canyon. The Sept. 16 game in Phoenix went into double overtime, when Maurer put the game-winner in the back of the net at the 5:45 mark in the second sudden-death period.
The following game on the schedule featured the Tritons taking on defending national champion No. 25 Sonoma State on the road. Going into the match with a 3-1 overall record, UCSD head coach Derek Armstrong thought that this game would tell him a lot about his team.
ìThis is a big one,î Armstrong said the day before the Sept. 19 game. ìObviously itís going to be a test.î
At Rohnert Park, the Seawolvesí defensive line put together a strong performance and shutout the Tritons, who suffered a 2-0 defeat.
SSU midfielder Chad Smith opened the scoring late in the first half with a header over UCSDís senior goalkeeper Jeremy Cookson. In the second half, the Tritons pushed up to put more pressure on the Sonoma State defenders, but the Seawolves kicked away just about every UCSD attack. With the Tritons focusing on offense to try to tie the score, SSU sealed the victory with another goal in the 85th minute.
In the game, UCSD didnít have many scoring opportunities, as the statistics would show. The 25th-ranked team in Division II men’s soccer recorded 14 shots, while UCSD managed just seven, and in corner kicks, the Seawolves took seven and the Tritons had none. SSU goalkeeper Matt Bernard made three saves to earn his third shutout in just seven games.
ìOverall, we played well,î said UCSD assistant coach Ted Przybylek. ìIt was a tough loss, but itís still early in the season and weíre not done yet.î
Although the Tritons couldnít put together very many scoring threats, the UCSD defense did keep the game in reaching distance and showed that the Tritons can battle with nationally ranked teams.
“”We were totally in it with the national champs. We’re ready to beat [them],”” Armstrong said. “”If we caught them later in the season, it might have been a different outcome.””
After the game at Rohnert Park, the Tritons traveled to play San Francisco State on Sept. 21. Against the Gators, the UCSD defense didn’t keep the opposing offense in check like it did against the Seawolves, allowing three goals. However, the Tritons managed to keep up with SFSU, and the visiting team won with just 45 seconds left in the second overtime period.
Tied 1-1 at halftime, the Tritons answered a Gator goal at the 62:07 mark with a score of their own seven minutes later when sophomore midfielder Matthew Davey converted on a penalty kick. Then with just seven minutes left in the game, UCSD took the lead on a goal by sophomore Grant Nishio, but San Francisco State got the equalizer in the 86th minute to send the game into overtime.
After both teams failed to score in the first sudden death period, it looked as if the game would end in a tie before junior Magnus Lu took a pass from sophomore defender Robert Stetina to give the Tritons the win.
UCSD will play its next game against CSU Los Angeles at Triton Soccer Stadium on Sept. 26 at 4:30 p.m. The Tritons currently sit on a 4-2 overall record, and theyíre 3-2 in CCAA action. Despite the second-place standing in the CCAA, Armstrong hasn’t been impressed by his team’s play thus far in the season.
“”We have a very talented group, but we haven’t really materialized,”” the UCSD head coach said. “”I think we’re more capable. I think we can do much better then we’re doing. The potential is there to be a very good team.””
