BAKERSFIELD, Calif. ? The 9th-ranked UC San Diego women's soccer team won its eighth straight contest, defeating Cal State Bakersfield on its own turf by a 2-1 score Wednesday night. With the win the Tritons improve to 12-1-0 overall and 8-1-0 in California Collegiate Athletic Association play while the Roadrunners fall to 3-11-1 overall and 2-7-0 in league action.
The Roadrunner's pressure on the UCSD back line kept the Tritons in check for the majority of the first half and yielded CSUB's first goal in the 33rd minute. Midfielder Krystle Immel corralled a lose ball in the UCSD zone then found forward Giuiliana Fonseca with a through pass just inside the box. Fonseca took on the keeper and slipped a quick shot past Mia Shirley for the first goal of the match.
The Tritons kept the pressure up but were unable to crack the Roadrunners through the rest of the first half. Just seconds after the start of the second half, UCSD found the equalizer off the restart. Alise Malley took the ball down the middle of a motionless Roadrunner defense and cracked a shot from the near post. CSUB goalkeeper Ashley Witten made a diving save, but her rebound went right to Megan Dickey, the CCAA's leading scorer, who easily netted her 10th goal of the season just 15 seconds into the second half.
UCSD kept up the pressure after that, adding the match?winner in the 62nd minute. After a CSUB foul just outside of the box on the far side, Kristina De La Rosa sent a blast toward the goal mouth which was redirected into the back of the net off the head of Alie Avina.
The streak of eight straight wins for the Tritons includes six shutouts. The only two wins that did not come by way of shutout were both against the Roadrunners. Over that span, UCSD has outscored its opponents by a 23-2 margin.
The Tritons continue their three-match road trip with a match at 7 p.m. on Friday at Chico State. From there, UCSD will travel to Cal State Stanislaus on Sunday for a 3 p.m. kickoff.
