With the assistance of an assertive defensive line, the No. 12 UCSD women’s soccer team capitalized on Sonoma State’s defensive woes, holding onto a 1-0 hard-fought win, their fourth in a row, on Sept. 30.
The Tritons (9-1-0 overall, 5-1-0 California Collegiate Athletic Association) scored the lone goal in the game in the 27th minute off the foot of sophomore Ali Lai. Lai gathered a rebound from a shot by junior Megan Dickey to score the winning goal.
Dickey created the Tritons’ goal opportunity when her shot rimmed off the crossbar, bounding down to Lai’s feet.
Lai quickly beat Sonoma State freshman goalkeeper Carissa Amiral to the left and gave UCSD what would prove to be an insurmountable lead.
“We scored an important goal in the first half and then just hung in there,” head coach Brian McManus said.
It was Lai’s fourth goal of the year and the eighth of her collegiate career.
“Offensively, we did fine and we created better chances to score than Sonoma did,” McManus said.
Despite outshooting the Tritons 9-8, Sonoma State had major scoring woes that continued throughout the contest. Many offensive pushes to the Triton goal were attempted, but were unsuccessful.
Junior Allie Avina anchored the defensive line in front of the goalkeeping of freshman Mia Shirley.
The credit for the Tritons’ fifth shutout of the season lies squarely with the abilities of Avina, Shirley and other members of the strong defensive line, according to McManus.
“The defenders did very well, and put up with difficult shots,” McManus said.
Sonoma State entered the game with a 2-6-1 overall record and a 1-2-1 mark in CCAA play, leaving the team in third place in the CCAA North Division, with four points, trailing both Chico State and Cal State Stanislaus, which have 12 points apiece.
The Tritons came into the game following wins over both Cal State Dominguez Hills and Cal Poly Pomona in their previous competitions.
The win keeps the Tritons on top of the CCAA South Division with 12 points.
UCSD beat San Francisco State 3-0 on Oct. 2. Details were unavailable at press time.
The Tritons will host conference-rival Cal State San Bernardino on Oct. 5, in their first matchup of the season.
