With the departure of nine seniors from the UCSD women’s soccer team, the pressure was on the younger players to fill the void. If the beginning of the season is any indication of what’s to come, then head coach Brian McManus can be confident that the youth will step up to the task.
On Sept. 22 at Triton Soccer Stadium, freshman forward Chelsea Campbell came off the bench to lift the Tritons late in the second half, giving UCSD a 1-0 victory over feisty Cal State Dominguez Hills. On the road, sophomore midfielder Megan Dickey headed in a goal and assisted on another to lead the visiting Tritons to a 3-1 victory against Cal Poly Pomona and help her teammates hand McManus his 298th career win.
In the home match against Cal State Dominguez Hills, the Tritons struggled in the opening half, playing a step behind the Toros, who outshot them 8-4. Despite that, the Tritons mustered up a few scoring chances, the closest one being where Dickey narrowly missed an open shot on the right side in the 26th minute of the first half. The Tritons did edge the Toros in corner kicks, 4-2, but came up empty.
UCSD senior goalie Jamie Lautenschleger came up with four saves in the first half. In her first, she jumped up to deflect Toro Lauren Lowery’s shot just above the net to keep Cal State Dominguez Hills scoreless.
McManus knows his players need to play with more energy and stamina.
“We’re not fit yet,” he said. “The conditions here — the sun and the heat — we’re not quite ready for those yet. We’ve got a lot of young kids coming straight from club, so the fitness isn’t there yet. We’ll be working on that.”
In the second half, the Tritons resumed play with more energy and spent most of their time in the Toros’ defensive zone. The Tritons had a couple of good scoring opportunities, with freshman midfielder Ali Lai showcasing her footwork, beating two Toro defenders to take a shot that narrowly sailed over the right post. Campbell was also a threat, getting a shot off her left foot with two Toros draped over her, but the Toro goalie came up with a big save. Campbell later answered by scoring a goal in the middle of a scrum at the Toro net, with junior midfielder Meira Dinsmore picking up the assist.
“It was a corner kick and we do really well on set plays,” Campbell said. “And [the ball] was near post and we usually have someone in front of the keeper just for that, and one of my teammates just got a head on it and it just dropped right in front of me.”
The lone Triton goal was Campbell’s third goal of the season. Despite the pressure to live up to last year’s team, Campbell has enjoyed playing for UCSD.
“It’s intense and there’s a lot of pressure because [the players] were so good last year, and we have to try and live up to the wonderful seniors,” she said. “We’re getting there, but it will still take awhile.”
In the last few minutes of the match, the Toros desperately tried to even the score, battling for scoring chances in the Tritons’ defensive zone. But UCSD protected its lead with the aid of junior Heather Szafraniec and freshman Nicole Pepper to secure the victory.
“[The Toros] were throwing the ball up in the air, hoping for a Hail Mary, that’s what you expect, you’ve just got to work hard and get through it,” McManus said. “And the [team] did well.”
This victory improved UCSD’s record to 5-1 and 1-1 in the California Collegiate Athletic Association, while dropping Cal State Dominguez Hills to 5-3 and 1-1 in the CCAA.
McManus has so far been pleased with the progress of his young players.
“They’ve been doing everything really well,” McManus said. “They’re doing what I’m wanting them to [do]; they’ve got to step up a little bit more, they’ve gotta grow up quickly. They’re taking the place of nine starting seniors with four years of experience, so it’s really difficult.”
The Tritons answered their coach’s call and stepped up their play in an away match at Cal Poly Pomona, where they handily defeated the Broncos, 3-1.
Dickey headed in a goal off of a corner kick by junior midfielder Kristina De La Rosa to give UCSD an early lead in the 35th minute. However, Cal Poly Pomona’s Jacqueline Ragudos answered with an unassisted shot that found the back of the net, tying up the match in the 51st minute. Ragudos’ goal proved to be the only highlight for the Broncos as UCSD took the match, scoring two unanswered goals.
In the 53rd minute, Dickey assisted on a goal to record her second point of the match. She fed a corner kick to fellow sophomore midfielder Heather Sugg who, amidst the crowd in front of the Broncos’ net, jumped and headed the ball to score the game-winning. Almost 20 minutes later, sophomore midfielder Alise Malley knocked an unassisted insurance goal into the right corner, completing the Tritons’ victory.
Lautenschleger registered four saves for the Tritons in five attempts and Ragudos’ goal was only the third goal that the UCSD goalie has allowed in eight games so far.
UCSD is back in action at Triton Soccer Stadium on Oct. 1 against Sonoma State. The match begins at 4:30 p.m.
