MENS’ SOCCER
With the score still drawn after 74 minutes of play last Sunday against CSU San Bernardino, UCSD midfielder Andisheh Bagheri lined up to take a corner kick. With all of the Triton attack and most of the Triton defense in the box, Bagheri played the short corner to sophomore midfielder Cory Wolfrom. Pulling a number of the CSU San Bernardino defense out of the box, Wolfrom launched a cross into the six-yard box, which bounced past the Coyote goalkeeper and into the far post.
The goal proved to be the game winner, granting UCSD the 1-0 win against CSU San Bernardino on Sunday.
“I noticed that San Bernardino was very concerned about the corner kick, so I took advantage of their lack of awareness and headed toward the corner,” Wolfrom said. “I looked up and wanted to put a cross to the back post and it ended up not hitting anyone and going right in.”
Although Wolfrom’s goal was the only of the game, there were a number of near misses. In the 32nd minute sophomore defender Gavin Lamming’s header just missed the mark. While on the other end, 20 minutes into the second half Coyote forward Julio Ayala cracked a shot from 28 yards out that nearly beat sophomore goalkeeper Jesse Brennan.
The win brought the Tritons back up to .500 – 3-3 in the CCAA and 4-4 overall –after their 1-0 loss against CSU Dominguez Hills on Friday.
The Tritons were granted another corner kick late into the second half, except this time Wolfrom’s corner resulted in a breakaway for the Toros.
Dominguez midfielder Ronald Ybarra looked upfield to find forward Jordan Rover. Rover slotted a pass to freshman forward Henry Calistro who sent the ball into the back of the net to score the game winner.
The two squads battled up and down the pitch for the full 90 minutes, with 28 fouls called on the two teams collectively.
“I’m excited for the upcoming home games. I am excited to play in front of our fans who give us such great support,” Wolfrom said. “We are starting to come together as a team and the goals will follow.”
With a 3-3 CCAA record — 4-4 overall — the Tritons are scheduled to return to the pitch for a pair of home games. This Friday, Sept. 30, UCSD will face off against CSU Monterey Bay at 7 p.m., and on Sunday, Oct. 2, the Tritons will take on CSU East Bay at 2:30 p.m.
“The boys competed hard and played well last weekend, and we’re in position to win both games,” assistant coach Eric Bucchere said. “This Friday against Monterey Bay will be another tough test for us, and hopefully we can provide some quality and entertaining soccer for our fans.”
WOMENS SOCCER
After defeating CSU Dominguez Hills on Friday and CSU San Bernardino on Sunday — their first home game of the season — the women’s soccer team has reclaimed the No. 2 national ranking.
The Tritons struggled to find the net in their first match of the season, tying unranked, non-conference opponent Western Washington 0-0, falling from the No. 2 ranking with which they began their campaign. Since then, UCSD has had no problem scoring goals, and with a 5-0-1 CCAA record, the Tritons have not only retaken their No. 2 rank, but also sit on top of the South Division conference standings.
On Friday, UCSD faced off against South Division rivals CSU Dominguez Hills, beating the Toros 1-0 under the lights of the Home Depot Center.
The Tritons found a quality side in Dominguez Hills — a squad that went unranked this year after they failed to make the CCAA playoffs last season. The game was tight, with the Tritons only outshooting the Toros 9-8 in the first half.
But just twelve minutes in, the Toros gave away a corner kick. Left-footed and right-footed defender Hayley Johnson sent a high curling ball into the goal box, which found the head of 5’9″ junior defender Ellen Wilson.
The goal marks Johnson’s team-leading seventh assist of the season, as well as her fifth assist from a corner kick.
“[Johnson] can take the kicks with either foot, which means she is able to swing them into the box, forcing the keeper to make a decision at the top of the sixth [yard box],” senior goalkeeper Kristin
Armstrong said. “She puts them in the perfect spot so that our forwards, or in this case our defenders, can run onto them.”
Last season Johnson connected with Wilson four times on the attacking end, providing crucial goals in last year’s campaign.
“Our defense is pretty much like our first line of offense,” Armstrong said. “On corner kicks we usually put everyone into the goal box except for Spaventa and Danielle [Dixon]. We just keep making the runs to the posts, and they just keep going in.”
Up 1-0, the Triton defense took over, shutting out the Toros to cruise to the win.
Riding a seven game undefeated streak, the Tritons kicked off against CSU San Bernardino in their first home game of the season on Sunday. CSU San Bernardino — with a 0-4-1 record in the CCAA and last place in the South Division — is the only CCAA team to get a draw from the Tritons.
Just two weeks before, the then nationally ranked Coyotes forced a 1-1 double overtime tie at their home field.
But the game between CCAA South Division teams was drastically different last Sunday, as the Tritons collected a resounding 4-0 win. Within the first four minutes of play, UCSD fired off four shots. The Tritons’ first goal came in the 13th minute, when junior forward Gabi Hernandez won the ball at the end line deep into the Coyotes’ half. Seeing senior forward Sarah McTigue at the penalty spot, Hernandez made a perfect pass to McTigue who placed it into the back of the net.
The next goal came from senior midfielder Lindsay Mills, who beat San Bernardino goalkeeper Tiffany Mallick in the 38th minute.
The Tritons put two more on the board in the second half. McTigue got on the end of another Johnson free kick to put the Tritons up 3-0. And with just 15 minutes remaining, junior transfer Taryn Bales scored her first goal as a Triton by touching the ball past Mallick.
Still without a loss, UCSD improves to 6-0-2 overall.
Over the weekend, the Tritons will host CCAA North opposite CSU Monterey Bay this Friday at 4:30 p.m. and CSU East Bay at 12 p.m. on Sunday.
