TURLOCK, Calif. ? The 17th-ranked UC San Diego women's soccer team locked up a berth in next week's NCAA Far West Regional by capturing its fifth California Collegiate Athletic Association Championship in the last six years, defeating Cal State Dominguez Hills by a 4-3 score on Sunday afternoon on the campus of Cal State Stanislaus. The win moves UCSD's record to 17-3-0 on the season while the Toros fall to 14-6-2. CSUDH will await word on its postseason fate when the NCAA Division II Women's Soccer brackets are announced on Monday afternoon.
UCSD got on the board first when Kathy Sepulveda netted her first goal of the season scoring an unassisted goal at the 14:13 mark of the first half. The Toros knotted the score at one apiece just five and a half minutes later when Candace Hearn notched an unassisted goal as well.
The Tritons went into halftime with a 2-1 lead after Natasha Belak-Berger capitalized on a penalty kick at the 36:32 mark of the second half. The goal was her seventh of the season, the most among UCSD freshman this season. Belak-Berger took the UCSD penalty kick after CSUDH's Sandra Lloyd was ejected for tackling a Triton player inside the goalkeeper box
Sophomore Lauren Segars would put the Tritons up by a 4-1 margin just 15 minutes into the second half as she took a Caitlin Ryan pass at the 52:09 mark and slid it by the CSUDH netminder for UCSD's third goal of the match. She added the fourth just under eight minutes later, scoring the unassisted goal to give her five on the season.
The Toros, the defending CCAA Champions, did not go down quietly, however, as Brittany McDonald scored twice within a four minute span to narrow the UCSD lead down to 4-3. McDonald's first tally of the game came in the 67th minute off a pass from her sister, Rachele McDonald. The sisters hooked up again in the 70th minute off as Brittany netted her second goal off another Rachele pass.
Despite the late charge by CSUDH, the Tritons were able to hold off the Toros to claim the league crown. UCSD improves its record in CCAA Tournament play to a remarkable 10-1-0 in the six years that the Tritons have been in the league. The lone loss in the conference tournament came to the Toros in last year's semifinals on the CSUDH campus.
UCSD will compete next week in the NCAA Division II Far West Regional at a site and time that will be announced on Monday afternoon. The Tritons entered the league tournament ranked No. 2 in the region, trailing only Seattle Pacific who concluded its regular season with a 3-0 win over Seattle University on Sunday. SPU has a record of 17-0-3 and is ranked No. 2 in the nation by the NSCAA.
