It was billed to be the epic battle of North vs. South as the UCSD women’s soccer team, the South Division leaders of the California Collegiate Athletic Association, faced off against North Division leaders Chico State in an important conference match on Oct. 15 at RIMAC Field.
It proved to be an even-handed match, with the injury-riddled Tritons playing the Wildcats to a 1-1 tie. The Tritons had to contend with injuries as junior defender Heather Szafraniec played on an ankle she hurt while practicing and senior goalie Jamie Lautenschleger coped with a hand imparement from the previous match.
“We’re the top team in the south and [Chico State] is the top team in the north,” head coach Brian McManus said. “We’ve got a couple of people playing with injuries tonight. Heather Szafraniec at the back was playing [hurt]. But that’s the way it goes. [Chico State] is a good team. They’re more experienced than us, they’re older than us. But I’ll take it. It’s a good result.”
UCSD struck first in the opening half, scoring in the eighth minute. The Tritons had three consecutive corner kicks and capitalized on their third try. Junior defender Kristina De La Rosa sent in the shot that sophomore midfielder Megan Dickey headed home, putting the Tritons ahead, 1-0. UCSD continued to pressure Chico State’s defense, outshooting them 5-2 in the first period.
In the second half, the Wildcats regrouped and scored in the 52nd minute to tie the match at 1-1. Sophomore midfielder Jessica Parker passed the ball to freshman forward Courtney Quan, who beat the last Triton to go one-on-one with Lautenschleger. Quan poked the ball past her to record her first goal of the season.
Play became tighter after the game-tying goal and both teams traded scoring chances, with the Tritons threatening the Wildcats’ defense toward the end. With a few minutes left in the match, UCSD sophomore forward Kelly Cochran flicked the ball with the outside of her foot to onrushing freshman forward Ali Lai, who was chopped down by Wildcat sophomore defender Jennifer Hogans. Hogans was penalized with a yellow card and UCSD was awarded a free kick with less than two minutes remaining, but was unable to score. The Tritons kept things exciting in the final minute when their corner kick was headed out of the way by Chico State, but kicked back by UCSD, causing a mad scramble in the box. The Chico State goalkeeper was knocked down, leaving the net open, but the Wildcats cleared the ball, sending the match into overtime.
Dickey took a free kick for UCSD in the first overtime period that sophomore midfielder Heather Sugg headed wide of the net. A few minutes later, De La Rosa had a free kick at the edge of the box that just sailed over the upper-left corner of the net. Play remained even in double overtime, and the Tritons almost scored the game-winner when Cochran got a shot off that nearly skipped under a diving Wildcat’s goalie with four minutes left. After close calls for both teams, the Tritons and Wildcats settled for a 1-1 tie.
“I think we played really well,” Szafraniec said. “It’s just one of those games where it doesn’t go your way. We tried hard and did almost everything right and just didn’t have the luck.”
McManus was pleased with his team’s efforts and says the team just needs to keep up its play for the next match against Cal State Stanislaus.
“We’re going to bounce back from it,” McManus said. “We just have to keep the ball and capitalize on our chances a little more.”