The Tritons had a poor start to the match, letting in a goal in just the 10th minute. Pomona’s Tyler Reinhart put in a close range shot from Luis Gonzalez’s pass to give the Broncos an early 1-0 lead.
“We came out a little bit flat and the other team got off to a very good start,” head coach Jon Pascale said. “They put us under a lot of pressure early. With our success recently, we came in with a bit of a target on our back.”
The Tritons failed to create any good chances in the first half, and the score remained at 1-0 going into halftime.
“We were a little bit slow in the beginning and they came out playing really well,” Pascale said. “For some reason — and I’m not sure what that reason was — it took us 45 minutes to get into the game.”
UCSD came alive in the second half, getting off 12 shots and maintaining good possession. However, the Broncos caught a break early in the half when Gonzalez found himself clear of the defense, and the forward was able to finish past freshman keeper Josh Cohen to put the Broncos up 2-0.
“I thought we had a good second half, and their second goal was a little against the run of play,” Pascale said. “Pomona has some very good forwards, and they really made the most of their chances.”
Despite the offensive pressure, the Tritons could not find the back of the net until the 88th minute. Freshman defender Cory Wolfrom sent in a cross that found the head of senior captain Jared Kukura. Kukura’s header beat the keeper, giving the defender his third goal of the season, but the Tritons didn’t have enough time to muster a chance to find the equalizer.
The Tritons face another tough test on Sunday, when they will travel to face No. 6 Cal State San Bernardino.
“San Bernardino is obviously a very, very good team,” Pascale said. “If we can play as well as we did in that second half, we can beat them. That’s as good as we have played this season.”
The Tritons battled to a 1-1 draw with Cal State San Bernardino on Oct. 1. The Coyotes currently sit atop the CCAA South Division standings with 28 points, while the Tritons are in fourth place with 21 points.
