No. 2 UCSD Women's Soccer Team Now 6-0-2

UC San Diego’s No. 2-ranked women’s soccer team remained unbeaten after ending its long seven-match season-opening road trip and playing its first home game of the 2011 season.

Last Friday Ellen Wilson’s goal set up by Hayley Johnson in the 12^th minute provided the margin of victory in the Tritons' 1-0 win over Cal State Dominguez Hills at the Home Depot Center Main Stadium in Carson. That finished a 5-0-2 run, all on the road.

On Sunday Sarah McTigue scored twice and Johnson added two assists as UCSD rolled over Cal State San Bernardino 4-0 at Triton Soccer Field in its home opener. The two teams had battled to a 1-1 tie earlier this season.

UCSD is 6-0-2 overall and 5-0-1 in CCAA play.

The Tritons owned the run of play from the start on Sunday against CSUSB, firing off three shots within the first four minutes of the match. Gabi Hernandez set up UCSD’s first goal in the 13th minute as she shouldered a defender off a ball trickling out of bounds at the end line. From the left side of the box, Hernandez threaded a perfect pass at a 45-degree angle toward the penalty spot. McTigue ran onto it and one-timed a shot into the middle of the net.

“We had some great quality plays when we started the game," said UCSD head coach Brian McManus. “So far, we're finishing off on set pieces and we're playing well all-around.”

UCSD earned a free kick about 35 yards out in the 38th minute on a CSUSB foul. Johnson sent a floater into the box, but it was punched out by Coyote keeper Tiffany Mallick. The ball landed at the feet of Johnson, who promptly beat two defenders off the dribble. She passed the ball to her right to an open Lindsay Mills, who converted a right-footed blast off Mallick's gloves to make it 2-0.

The Tritons made it 3-0 less than 20 minutes into the second half on a second goal by McTigue, who leads the team with four goals.

Taryn Bales scored the first goal of her Triton career with 15 minutes left, collecting a through-ball from Shelby Wong behind the Coyote back line and side-footing a shot into an open net for the game's final score.

Johnson has registered a team-high seven assists. And it was her service on a corner kick that made the difference in Friday’s match.

Johnson sent a high, curling ball into the mixer and Wilson beat the CSUDH goalkeeper to the ball, heading it in. The assist marked Johnson's fifth off a corner kick this season.

UCSD out-shot CSUDH 9-8 but the Toros were able to out-shoot UCSD 6-2 in the second half.  Kristin Armstrong made a couple strong saves and the defensive line stuck in to keep CSUDH off the board.

The Tritons will end their three-match home stand at Triton Soccer Field Friday and Sunday against Cal State Monterey Bay and Cal State East Bay, respectively. UCSD will kick off against CSUMB at 4:30 p.m. on Friday. The Tritons face CSUEB at noon Sunday.

MEN’S SOCCER

Cory Wolfrom scored his first career goal to give UC San Diego’s men’s soccer team a 1-0 victory over Cal State San Bernardino in CCAA play Sunday afternoon at Triton Soccer Field.
 
Wolfrom fooled CSUSB keeper Tanner Olinger in the 74th minute. After receiving a pass on a short-corner from Anisheh Bagheri, Wolfrom sent in a cross from the left side to the top of the six yard box, forcing Olinger to make a decision. Olinger let the ball bounce in the goal box, but couldn’t get a hand to it as the ball hopped into the side-netting inside the far post.
 
That win snapped a two-match losing skid and improved the Tritons' record to 4-4 overall and 3-3 in CCAA play.

“I couldn’t be happier for the guys, especially considering the energy they expended on Friday night (at Cal State Dominguez Hills),” said UCSD coach Jon Pascale. “We did the little things well today and it was a true team effort.”
 
Jesse Brennan totaled five saves in just his second start of the season.

On Friday in Carson, the Tritons fell to Cal State Dominguez Hills 1-0.

UCSD earned a corner kick in the 77th minute, but the Toros were able to clear Wolfrom’s s corner and broke out on a counter attack. Ronald Ybarra collected the ball and found Jordan Rover upfield. Rover threaded a pass to Henry Calistro and Calistro touched it past UCSD goalkeeper Brennan, making his first start of the season, for the match's only goal.

The Tritons will end their three-match homestand Friday and Sunday against Cal State Monterey Bay and Cal State East Bay. UCSD will kick off against CSUMB at 7 p.m. Friday and face CSUEB at 2:30 p.m. Sunday.

WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL

After equaling its best start ever with its ninth straight victory, a straight-set sweep of Cal State Stanislaus on Friday,  the UC San Diego women’s volleyball team lost its first match of the season, 3-2 to Chico State, Sunday at RIMAC Arena.

Katie Condon put away a career-high 22 kills, but the 10th-ranked Tritons, who battled back from two sets down to even the match, lost 15-11 in the fifth and deciding set.
 
The loss left UCSD at 9-1 overall and a 5-1 record in CCAA play. Chico State is 9-3 and 4-2 in the conference.

For the first time this season, UCSD was out-hit as Chico State posted a .231 (72-24-208) attack percentage to the Tritons' .205 (69-27-205).
 
“We made too many costly errors in critical situations," said UCSD head coach Ricci Luyties. “We were out of system and couldn't consistently get anything going.”

The Tritons did have several standout individual performances. Condon added 16 digs, two assists, two aces and two blocks and finished with a match-high 25 points.
 
Roxanne Brunsting recorded a triple-double with 10 kills, 30 assists and 16 digs while Julia Freidenberg had 10 kills and six blocks from the middle.

Hillary Willamson had 15 kills and 23 digs, one short of her career high.

It was the first five-set match for the Tritons this season.
 
In the sweep over Cal State Stanislaus Friday, 25-22, 25-23 and 25-20, the versatile Brunsting had a solid all-around match for the Tritons, recording seven kills, a .400 attack percentage, 21 assists, two service aces, 12 digs, three blocks and 10.5 points.
 
For the eighth time this season, Williamson led all players in kills, collecting 18. She added three aces, eight digs and 21 points and was perfect on 17 receptions. Defensively, Triton Janess Werhane had a match-best 14 digs.
 
The Tritons play on the road at Humboldt State and Sonoma State this weekend before hosting No. 3 Cal State San Bernardino on Oct. 5 at 7 p.m.

MEN’S WATER POLO

Matthew Michalko recorded a hat trick as the No. 10 UC San Diego men's water polo team topped No. 20 Air Force 13-6 last  Friday night in Western Water Polo Association play at Cadet Gym in Colorado Springs.

The victory improved the Tritons record to 8-2 overall and 6-2 in the WWPA.

That easy win served as a bounce-back game for the Tritons after they dropped a 12-10 match to Loyola Marymount Thursday night at Canyonview Pool. LMU overpowered UCSD and the Tritons needed five goals in the fourth quarter to bring the final scoreline within two.

In that game Graham Saber registered his sixth hat trick of the year and David Higginson tallied a pair of goals.

UCSD's only two losses this season have come at the hands of LMU. The Lions also took down the Tritons 7-6 Sept. 4 at the Triton Invitational.

Prior to Thursday's match, participants in Camp Reach for the Sky—a charity run by the American Cancer Society which provides children with cancer ages 4-18 and their siblings a chance to attend a summer camp free of charge—were introduced to the 1,303 spectators at Canyonview. Donations to Camp Reach for the Sky were collected throughout the match.

The Tritons are preparing for the So Cal Tournament at Cal State Long Beach this weekend. UCSD will face UC Santa Barbara at 9:50 a.m. Saturday morning.

CROSS COUNTRY

Facing their first true Division II test of the season, the UC San Diego cross country teams came through with a pair of excellent performances as both squads posted top-seven finishes in their respective races at the Runners Soul Erik Anderson Invitational on  Saturday at Plantes Ferry Regional Park in Washington.
 
The Triton women finished fifth out of 26 teams in the collegiate 6k, while the men placed seventh in a 25-team collegiate 8k field. Saturday’s race proved to be a good barometer for where UCSD stands within the region, while also giving the Tritons a glimpse of a course they hope to see twice more this season as Plantes Ferry Regional Park will serve as the site for both the NCAA West Regionals and the NCAA National Championships in November.
 
“We got a good measure of where we’re at within the region and we know we’ve got some work to do, but we’re pleased with how we performed against this field on both sides,” coach Nate Garcia said. “We ran well on this course, but we definitely have to get better before we’re back up here in six weeks.”
 
Sophomore Chia Chang, who led the Triton women in their season opener and at the Asics/UC Irvine Invitational, was at the front of the pack for UCSD once again, finishing 10th overall with a time of 21:58.3. With a mile pace of 5:56.3, Chang came in just over a minute behind the individual winner, Ruby Roberts of Washington State (20:53.8).
 
Chang finished four spots in front of teammate Michelle Le Roux, who clocked in at 22:12.6 to claim 14th place. Fellow rookie Dani Brabender was the next runner to finish for the Tritons, completing the course in 23:24.6, which was good enough for 55th place.

Freshman Madison Tanner and junior Catherine Crisp rounded out the scoring, finishing in 59th and 63rd place. Tanner posted a final time of 23:27.7, while Crisp came in at 23:29.7.
 
UCSD tallied 187 points on the day, finishing 45 points behind the fourth-place finisher, the College of Idaho. Division I Washington State had five of the top seven finishers to run away with the team title with 21 points. Gonzaga finished second with 114 points, while Western Washington took third with 133.
 
The Triton women, who entered the day ranked 10th in the West Region, finished in front of regional opponents Seattle Pacific (eighth place), Alaska Fairbanks (12th) and Western Oregon (14th), which are all currently ranked higher in the West.
 
Junior Matt Lenehan was the top individual finisher on the men’s side for the Tritons, placing 29th overall with an 8k time of 25:31.1. Sophomore Kellen Levy had the team’s next-best finish at 25:44.7, good enough for 37th place, while fellow sophomore Mario Flores placed 52nd at 25:55.4.
 
Seniors Anthony Heredia and John Svet were UCSD’s final two scorers on the day, completing the course in 26:08.4 and 26:11.2. Heredia finished in 68th place, while Svet claimed 74th.
 
UCSD finished with 230 points overall, which was 29 behind sixth-place Northwest Nazarene.

Colorado School of Mines, which currently ranks No. 3 nationally in Division II, won the event with 27 points, while Gonzaga finished second with 95 and Western Washington tallied 181 to finish third. Western Oregon (184) and Lewis and Clark (187) rounded out the top five.
 
Western Washington, Western Oregon and Northwest Nazarene all entered the day ranked in front of UCSD in the West Region.
 
The Tritons will take this weekend off to prepare for their final home meet of the season, the annual UCSD Triton Classic, on Saturday, Oct. 8. The women’s 6k is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m., followed by the men’s 10k at 9:50.

—Compiled from press releases issued by the UCSD sports information office