In its first-ever appearance in the NCAA Division II postseason tournament, the UCSD men’s soccer team was six and a half minutes away from forcing overtime with No. 10 Chico State, but two late goals by the Wildcats eliminated the Tritons, 2-0, in their Far West Regional Semifinal match on Nov. 14 in Carson, Calif.
“”With six minutes to go, we were ready to go to overtime. We’re undefeated in overtime this year, but then we made an error in the backfield,”” UCSD head coach Derek Armstrong said. “”But we played an absolutely magnificent game.””
The Tritons, the third seed in the Far West Region, were the aggressor in the first half. UCSD outshot Chico State, 5-2, pressured Wildcat goalie Dominik Jakubek, and took six corner kicks in the first 45 minutes.
“”We killed them in the first half,”” Armstrong said. “”Their goalkeeper really kept them in it.””
Chico State began to gain momentum in the second half and tired out the young UCSD lineup. Senior defender Jonathan Shum was unavailable, serving a one-game suspension, and junior defender Luke Russell was forced to come off of the bench after being unable to play the previous five games due to injury. To fill holes in the defensive line left by the two key players, the Tritons started freshman Matt Finklestein as the left defender with senior Ryan Mizumoto and sophomore Kevin Murray ‹ both accustomed to playing midfield ‹ as the other two defenders.
The Wildcats broke the scoreless tie at the 83 minute and 27 second mark when they got through Triton defense and Jason Phillips took a cross to beat goalkeeper Jeremy Cookson. First Team All-CCAA forward Chris Wondolowski and Brett Williams assisted on the play.
“”We made a little error in the back. We were a little bit tired, and they just got through,”” Armstrong said.
The Wildcats then put the game away at 87:29 on a breakaway goal while the Tritons were pushing up, desperately trying to get the equalizer and extend their season by at least 10 more minutes. Williams and Michael Esser assisted on the goal scored by Brian Phillips, who blasted a shot from the top of the penalty box.
The 2-0 loss was the Tritons’ third setback from Chico State this season. The Wildcats beat UCSD, 3-1, at Triton Soccer Stadium on Oct. 3, and posted a dominating 5-1 victory over the Tritons in the CCAA Championship on Nov. 9.
“”Obviously we were all disappointed with the loss [on Nov. 14], but we played 5,000 percent better than we did last [weekend],”” Armstrong said. “”Sometimes you just have to take something from the performance, and we were absolutely magnificent.””
With the win, Chico State earned the right to play No. 1 seed Cal State Dominguez Hills, ranked fifth nationally, in the regional final on Nov. 16. The winner of that game advanced for a chance to play for the national championship. Results of the Nov. 16 final were unavailable at press time.
“”Any one of the three teams [in the Far West Region] could have gone through to win the national title,”” Armstrong said. “”Three teams in the region were that strong. The winner will probably go on to win the championship.””
With the loss in the Far West Regional Semifinal, the Tritons ended their season 11-7-1. In 2003 UCSD earned its first-ever trips to the CCAA Final and NCAA tournament since moving to Division II.
“”It’s been a good season, and I am very pleased with our performance,”” Armstrong said.
