After going winless in their first five games, the men’s squad has not lost for the last six matches – the longest current streak in the conference. In these matches, the Tritons have gone 4-0-2, allowing just one goal in that stretch. They’re now coming off an impressive weekend, having earned a draw with Cal State Dominguez Hills and fought for a narrow 1-0 win over Cal State Los Angeles.
“Even early on in the season, we felt like we were playing pretty well, but we weren’t finishing our chances and we had a tendency to make one or two mistakes that would lead to goals for the other team,” head coach Jon Pascale said. “Nothing drastic has changed; we’ve just gotten a little bit better each week.”
The Triton defense has stepped up to prevent these big mistakes, working to cut the goals allowed per game.
“We’ve really focused on making sure that if a team is going to get a goal on us, it’s going to come from something special,” Pascale said. “We’ve really tightened up the screws defensively.”
The Tritons face a tough test on Friday against No. 14 Chico State, the team that sits atop the CCAA North Division with a 7-3 conference record. The Wildcats started the season with a five-game win streak, but are 1-2-1 in their last four matches.
“Every weekend is challenging,” Pascale said. “Every team in the conference is good. I think on Friday we’ll be happy to be playing at home. Last weekend we had a great crowd and it really helped.”
The Tritons are 7-4-1 all-time against the Wildcats, although the teams played to a 1-1 tie in their only meeting last season.
UCSD will then take on Cal State Stanislaus on Sunday, when the Warriors will try to move up from their second place position in the CCAA North Division standings. The Tritons need to be prepared for a physical game, as Cal State Stanislaus leads the CCAA in both fouls committed and yellow cards.
The Tritons will kick off against Chico State at 7 p.m., while Sunday’s game will begin at 2 p.m.

The women’s squad has had similarly impressive results, as it pushed its unbeaten streak to seven matches with a pair of weekend wins. The Tritons followed a 2-1 win over Dominguez Hills with a 1-0 win against then-No. 15 Cal State Los Angeles, extending their win streak to four games.
Junior Annie Wethe scored the lone goal against Cal State Los Angeles, and was named CCAA Player of the Week for her efforts. Wethe also provided the assist for the opening goal of the match against Dominguez Hills. Wethe has scored three goals for the Tritons this season, all of which have been game-winning.
The Tritons’ success was rewarded with a return to the national rankings, with UCSD sitting at No. 22 in the latest poll. After the slate of weekend games, the Tritons sit just one point out of first place in the CCAA South Division.
The squad will have its chance to jump into first place against a struggling Chico State team on Friday. The Wildcats are 1-3-0 in their last four matches and were shutout in all three losses.
UCSD will move on to host No. 24 Cal State Stanislaus on Sunday. The Warriors are currently leading the CCAA North Division with a 9-2-1 overall record, although UCSD is 9-1-1 all-time against Stanislaus.
The games will be at 4:30 p.m. and 11:30 a.m., respectively.