Each year since UCSD women’s soccer moved up to NCAA Division II in 2000, it has not only earned a spot in the California Collegiate Athletic Association Championships, but has emerged victorious every time, going 8-0. The Tritons finished this season with their fifth-straight South Division title and were looking to hand head coach Brian McManus his fifth consecutive CCAA Championship. However, fourth-seeded Cal State Dominguez Hills played spoiler and gave top-seeded UCSD a 1-0 loss in the CCAA Semifinals on Nov. 5 in Carson, Calif. Toro sophomore midfielder Kristen Walsh scored the game-winning goal in the first half of the match.
Guardian file
“They played tremendously,” McManus said of his team. “It was a tremendous effort. It was always going to be just one mistake and we made one mistake. That was the bottom line — it was always going to be a close game.”
Although the Tritons were sent home early in the CCAA tournament, they will likely qualify for one of the four spots in the NCAA Division II Regionals because they currently sit in second place behind Seattle University in the NCAA Far West Region rankings. The Tritons have qualified for the NCAA Regionals every year since 1987 under Brian McManus. UCSD will be notified of its berth in the Regionals on Nov. 8 after the final Far West Region rankings are posted. The Regionals will be held the second week of November in Seattle.
“It will probably be, hopefully, us and Dominguez to go to Seattle next week to play the Regionals,” McManus said.
Coming into the semifinal game, UCSD was determined to play strong right off of the whistle, according to freshman defender Nicole Pepper.
“We wanted to play hard and just do really well,” she said.
Determined to play aggressively, the Tritons controlled the ball and kept the Toros in their defensive zone early in the opening half. UCSD got its first chance in the second minute off a corner kick by senior midfielder Jaclyn Shaffer, sending the ball to sophomore midfielder Heather Sugg. She headed it toward the net, but Toro goalie Mallory Dominguez came up with a save. The Tritons had five corner kicks in the first half, compared to one for the Toros, but were unable to convert them.
Cal State Dominguez Hills broke the scoreless tie in the closing minutes of the first half to steal the momentum from UCSD. Toro forward Rachele McDonald sent the ball up to Michelle Sena, who beat two Tritons to feed a pass to Walsh. Walsh sailed the ball over a leaping Triton goalie Jamie Lautenschleger into the upper left corner for the game’s only goal.
“Dominguez, they’re a strong team [with] a lot of experience and we have a bit of a lack of experience,” McManus said. “A minute and a half to halftime, we let down a little bit and gave up a goal. But that happens, that comes with experience.”
It remained a tight battle between UCSD and Cal State Dominguez Hills in the second half, with each team trading scoring chances. The Tritons almost tied the match with less than 10 minutes left. Sophomore midfielder Megan Dickey sent a free kick up the middle for freshman midfielder Ali Lai. She fed the ball to Sugg, who took a quick shot that Dominguez deflected into the top of the crossbar, but bounced out to save a game-tying goal. The Toros held on for the win, advancing them to the finals against Chico State on Nov. 7. Results of the match were unavailable at press time.
The Toros and the Tritons are the teams favored for selection to play in the NCAA Regionals. If both teams face off again, UCSD will be looking to avenge its loss to Cal State Dominguez Hills.
“In case we have to meet up with them again, we’re just going to rethink our play and just get in and do the best we can,” Pepper said. “Right now, we just have to get injuries taken care of. We need to get healthy and get ready for the Regionals.”
The next week will allow the injured Tritons, such as junior defender Heather Szafraniec and Sugg, some time to heal. McManus is optimistic about UCSD’s chances at Regionals.
“I think we’re going to be a little fitter, a little bit more rested, and that will make that a little bit easier on us and we’ll take it from there,” he said.
