In a back-and-forth game, the UCSD men’s soccer team virtually clinched the California Collegiate Athletic Association South division title with a 2-1 win over rival Cal Poly Pomona on Oct. 18 at Triton Soccer Stadium.
Bucking the Broncos: UCSD forward Tiago Venturi wrestles the ball away from a Cal Poly Pomona player in their Oct. 18 match at Triton Soccer Stadium.
As the main attraction for Homecoming 2003, the Tritons played a conservative game and won on a pair of penalty kicks converted by sophomore midfielder Matthew Davey. With the victory, UCSD opened up a nine-point advantage over the Broncos for first place in the CCAA South with only two conference games remaining.
Cal Poly Pomona got on the scoreboard first late in the opening half. The Broncos scored in the 41st minute on a goal by forward Stephen Lopez. The score came after the Pomona right forward crossed the ball to the far post, where it was knocked down. Senior goalkeeper Jeremy Cookson couldn’t get his hands on the ball and Lopez kicked it into the back of the net after it came rolling to him.
However, the 1-0 Bronco lead was short lived. UCSD struck back within 25 seconds to earn a penalty kick on the opposite side of the field. After sophomore forward Grant Nishio went down in the box, Davey beat Cal Poly Pomona goalkeeper Tim Sisk and scored in the lower left side of the goal on a penalty kick.
The game remained tied for the rest of the first half and the initial part of the second, like it would be heading into overtime. The ball was usually at midfield, and neither team managed to keep it in front of the opposing goal for a long period of time.
The evenly matched showdown between the South division rivals suddenly took a turn in the Tritons’ favor when UCSD earned a free kick near the left corner of the field just outside of the penalty box with 13:11 left. On the kick, the Triton offense got off a shot that would have gone in, but Cal Poly Pomona midfielder Joe DeVito blocked it with his hand, resulting in an automatic red card and penalty kick.
Davey, who was named CCAA Player of the Week for Oct. 6 through Oct. 12, took the penalty kick and went top shelf with it, scoring in the upper left side of the net for his seventh goal of the season.
“”I absolutely loved it,”” UCSD head coach Derek Armstrong said about Davey’s choice to play a risky high shot on the penalty kick. “”It was going in all the way.””
After the goal, the Tritons dropped back in a prevent defense, taking care of their lead. The Broncos’ only shot in the final 13 minutes went wide, and UCSD improved to 9-4-1 overall, 8-4-1 in the CCAA. The Tritons are now on their way for their third division title in the past four years.
“”There was a lot on the line in this game, and that’s why we didn’t take very many chances,”” Armstrong said. “”I usually like to play aggressive, but today we just played and took the chances that we got.””
Although UCSD won the game, it suffered a severe blow early on when stable defender Luke Russell landed awkwardly after jumping to contend for a ball at the 25:46 mark. Russell had to leave the game, and the initial report on the injury was a strained quadricep. The team is awaiting more news on the injury.
“”That was a massive blow for us,”” Armstrong said. “”If it’s a serious injury, that will hurt us in a big way.””
Looking ahead, UCSD will host Chapman on Oct. 20 at Triton Soccer Stadium at 7 p.m. in a non-conference game. The Tritons will then go on the road next week to play Cal State San Bernardino on Oct. 25, and they will wrap up the regular season with a home match against Grand Canyon on Oct. 1.
UCSD will most likely use these three games to keep everyone fresh and work on playing as a team, an attribute that Armstrong has been stressing throughout the year.
“”We’re very close,”” the coach said. “”We’re not quite there yet, but we’re getting tighter as the season goes.””
