Following a solid 9-4-4 record in the 2004 season, the No. 15 UCSD men’s soccer team began its 2005 schedule with three wins, including a shutout victory over the Division II defending national champions, the Seattle University Redhawks.
The Tritons (4-1-0 overall, 1-1 California Collegiate Athletic Association) played textbook soccer in their first three games, outscoring their opponents 8-0 in three shutout wins. The first game was a 4-0 victory over Humboldt State on Aug. 26, followed by the 2-0 win over the No. 2 Redhawks on Sept. 4. On Aug. 7, the Tritons maintained their streak by dismantling the Western Washington Vikings’ defense in a 2-0 victory. The games against the Redhawks and the Vikings were played on the road in Washington.
Although they started strong to open the season, the Tritons could not maintain their perfect record when they played Cal State Los Angeles on the road on Sept. 13 in their first California Collegiate Athletic Association game of the season. The Tritons, led by senior Academic All-American Matt Davey, fell in overtime to the Golden Eagles and Mark Van Gorkom, who scored the game-winner in the seventh minute of the first overtime.
Davey has been adding to his already stellar career numbers at UCSD, with four goals and two assists through the Tritons’ first five games. Davey, who already ranks among the top-10 in career goals and assists at UCSD, scored both goals against top-ranked Seattle and one each against Humboldt State and Cal State Bakersfield.
With Davey’s leadership and athleticism, the experience of senior goalkeeper Edward Ruhland, and a supporting cast of seniors like Nick Marquand, Grant Nishio and Jon Krupansky, the 2005 Tritons have earned widespread respect. Many coaches around the CCAA are so impressed with this year’s team that they picked the Tritons to win their first CCAA title this year. The CCAA coaches ranked the Tritons as the second-place team in the South Division and predicted that UCSD would go all the way to the championship game and win it all.
So far, the Tritons’ play has lived up to expectations. With the victory against Seattle, the Tritons ended the Redhawks’ 13-game-home winning streak and were the first Division II team to shut out Seattle in their last 32 matches.
Head coach Derek Armstrong is responsible for molding this year’s Tritons into a top-notch team. Now in his 23rd season as head coach, Armstrong continues to improve the Tritons, year after year. After dominating the Division III competition, Armstrong and his players gladly accepted a move to Division II five years ago and have proven that they can handle the higher skill level. Last year, Armstrong won his 300th game at UCSD, making him and women’s coach Brian McManus the only two coaches at the same school each with 300 wins. Armstrong now faces the challenge of living up to the ever-increasing pressure on the Tritons to succeed.
It is still early in the season, and the Tritons must look forward to some tough matches in the weeks to come. On Sept. 21, the Tritons will attempt to go 2-0 against ranked teams when they face their league foe, No. 6 Cal State Dominguez Hills. From here forward, the Tritons will face opponents from the CCAA, including Cal Poly Pomona on Sept. 24 and Sonoma State on Sept. 30.
