On Thursday, Sept. 19, UC San Diego women’s soccer (2-4-4, 0-1 Big West) opened conference play at Triton Soccer Stadium with a 1-0 loss against Cal State Bakersfield (4-4-1, 1-0 Big West). It was the Tritons’ second consecutive loss to the Roadrunners, who entered the match on a four-game win streak.
UCSD, meanwhile, was winless in its previous four matches. After a promising start to the season — dropping only one match in their first seven games — the Tritons have been plagued by draws and near misses. Thursday’s loss marks 270 minutes since the last Triton goal.
“We’re definitely super excited for our home opener, especially coming off a bunch of ties,” sophomore forward Lana Gilligan said in a postgame interview with The UCSD Guardian. “I mean, we’ve been playing pretty well, even with the ties. We just knew we had to be a little more clinical.”
The Tritons started off strong, with junior midfielder Alexis Nguyen firing an opening shot to the bottom left corner, parried away by CSUB senior goalkeeper Kamy Anaya. Four more early shots, including two on target, followed in the first 15 minutes for UCSD.
However, the Roadrunners quickly found their rhythm, and the Tritons were left on the back foot for the rest of the half. Senior forward Cynthia Ramirez scored the opener for CSUB on a shot from outside the box, which took a friendly bounce over the diving hands of redshirt freshman goalkeeper Charlotte Wilfert.
Following the goal, the Roadrunners dropped back in an attempt to preserve the lead, allowing the Tritons maintain possession and stay on the attack. Though UCSD sent more shots at goal, it was unable to notch an equalizer before the break.
”It felt like we deserved maybe a goal in the first half, just with how much of the ball we had,” head coach Kristin Jones said. “I just think we lacked a little bit of creativity when it mattered the most.”
The second half saw the Tritons scramble to get past the Roadrunners’ defense in the box. With just under 15 minutes left in regulation, senior midfielder Lauren Rocco and Gilligan continued to add pressure, and a long-range effort from junior midfielder Chloe Yates came close, crashing off the crossbar.
“One of our keys to win actually was to take advantage of space that they gave us and to dribble with pace,” Jones said. “And [Yates] did a really good job of recognizing that there was a good 20 yards of space for her to dribble into. I think most of the bench thought when left her foot it was going in.”
Gilligan made one last attempt — a shot that flew over the crossbar — before time ran out.
Despite the final scoreline, the Tritons managed to control possession for the majority of the match, posting a season-high count of 17 shots and nine shots on goal.
“I think we were really doing well to keep possession higher up the field, which is something that we struggled with in a few games in the past,” Gilligan said. “But in this case, we just had to get that final pass right, get that final shot right. So, it’s just really [about] getting that final moment.”
As conference play kicks off, UCSD will seek to improve its Big West standing. The Tritons were ranked seventh in the Big West Preseason Coaches’ Poll — one spot short of being eligible for the conference championship.
“There’s no reason we’re not in the conference tournament,” Jones said. “That’s always been a goal of ours, and I think we have the team this year to do it.”
The Tritons will head north to play Cal Poly on Thursday, Sept. 25.
