SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. - UC San Diego's women's soccer team clinched its sixth-straight California Collegiate Athletic Association South Division title Wednesday with a 3-0 shutout of host Cal State San Bernardino, enabling the Tritons to advance to the CCAA conference championship tournament on Nov. 4-6.
Alise Malley knocked in her sixth goal of the season off an assist from Natasha Belak-Berger in the 64th minute to break a 0-0 deadlock. That was all the Tritons defense and goalkeepers Mia Shirley and Jessica McGovern needed to put away the Coyotes who finished the season going scoreless in their last five matches.
Shirley and McGovern each made a pair of saves as the Tritons defense limited the Coyotes to just seven shots in the 90-minute contest before 278 fans at Coyotes Premier Field.
UCSD is now 14-3 on the season and 10-3 in the CCAA with a Senior Night match at home against Cal State L.A. on Saturday. Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m. and will begin immediately following the brief ceremony to honor seniors Heather Szafraniec and Kristina De La Rosa.
Three minutes after Malley's goal, leading scorer Megan Dickey popped in the second goal, again with an assist from Belak-Berger. It was Dickey's 11th goal of the season. Kelly Mayo finished off the scoring in the 69th minute with a low shot past Coyotes keeper Leslie Rhodes with an assist from Dickey.
The Coyotes finished the season a disappointing 5-12-2 overall and 3-10-1, last place in the CCAA South Division. It is the fewest wins by a CSUSB women's soccer team since the program was started in 1988.
