The heart-stopping rhythm of Friday’s away game demonstrates the fighting spirit of the 11th-ranked UCSD women’s soccer team as it battled to the very end with Cal State Bakersfield, scoring with only 24 seconds left on the clock to force a 2-2 draw.

The game got off to an early and favorable start as UCSD junior midfielder Ali Lai earned her team the first goal just 12 minutes into the game.

“Amanda Esquivel sent an amazing ball over the top of the defense,” Lai said. “I ran onto it. I was one-on-one with the keeper and we were both sprinting toward the ball, but I got to it first and chipped it over her on my first touch and scored.”

The Tritons couldn’t hold on to their glory for long, as Bakersfield bounced back with a goal before the half to tie.

Sophomore goalkeeper Jessica McGovern was devastated by the play, and described the score from a goalie viewpoint.

“The ball was crossed into the penalty box and there was a scramble in front of me,” she said. “There were about five of our players against five of theirs, but somehow the girl cleared a path for herself and shot from less than 10 yards away. I dove low and to the right, but the ball skinned the bottom of my lower hand. I heard it hit the net and my heart completely stopped for a second. They brought it to 1-1.”

Senior midfielder Heather Sugg kept the ball alive with countless headers.

“She did so many I’m surprised she doesn’t have permanent brain damage!” McGovern said.

The Tritons also out-shot Bakersfield 35 to 18, but the shots just weren’t being completed and the Roadrunners scored yet again after halftime for a 2-1 lead on UCSD.

“You can have 99 percent possession, but what it comes down to is who capitalizes on their chances, and that’s what this team did,” senior forward Alisa Malley said.

But the Tritons did not let the lead interfere with their determination to bring the game back to their side.

“After [Bakersfield] scored their second goal, we responded with force,” McGovern said. “Everyone picked up the intensity. You could feel it on the field. Every time the ball went out, players were sprinting to put it back into play as quickly as possible. There was something beautiful in the composed urgency.”

That urgency is what fueled the Tritons to make their last minutes count, and brought them out of what appeared to be another lost game.

Malley recalled the pivotal turning point in the game with vibrancy.

“We were working the ball down the field with a minute to go,” Malley said. “Heather had given a pass to [junior midfielder Chelsey Campbell], who took a first touch, and I was running down the opposite side of the field thinking I just needed to get there because she was so far out I thought she was going to cross it.

“[Campbell] took a second touch and then shot the ball from about 30 yards out, just sinking it beneath the post above the keeper’s reach,” Malley said. “Relief set in and I really thought we were going to win the game after that, like our lifeline had been given to us.”

Campbell’s shot sent the game into overtime, but the Tritons failed to capitalize in on the brillance of the 90th minute.

“We definitely stepped up our level of play in overtime,” McGovern said. “We connected brilliant passes, won more balls in the air, and took quality shots. Defense was working really hard. There were no more breakaways, and I stopped a threat or two. Basically we dominated, and our attitudes were right. We were fighting for the win we all deserved, but didn’t get it.”

Though a win was the ideal goal of the team, the excitement of the game made the tie worthwhile.

“With that close of a game I’ll accept the tie, but I’m definitely not satisfied,” Malley said.

The Bakersfield match, along with their recent loss to Chico State on Sept. 17, left the Tritons hungry for redemption and a way out of their no-win slump. They hoped to resume their winning ways in their game against Cal State Los Angeles, which was set for 3 p.m. Sept. 24.

Results for the game were not yet available by print time. However, there was an air of excited anticipation from the players.

“Cal State LA is leading the south division in points and that needs to be us,” senior midfielder Kelly Cochran said. “It’s a difficult field to play at — incredibly tiny and bumpy. They have always played very physical and that tends to disrupt us.”

Nerves were high and both teams knew a lot was riding on this game.

“Everything is on the line — the top spot in the south division, the chance to break the record we have for losing at their field every time we’ve played there, the opportunity to maintain our chances at going to CCAA playoffs and to regionals, our confidence and our momentum heading into the second half of our season,” McGovern said. “Basically this game could make or break us.”