MONTEREY, Calif. ? The 3rd-ranked UC San Diego women's soccer team concluded its 2006 regular season with a 2-1 victory on the road at Cal State Monterey Bay Sunday afternoon. With the victory the Tritons improve to 16-1-2 overall and secure the No. 1 seed in next weekend's CCAA Championship Tournament with their 13-1-2 league mark. Cal State Monterey Bay's season comes to an end with a 3-15-2 overall record and a 3-11-2 mark in conference play.
After both teams played to a scoreless first half, the Tritons came out and scored two goals in the first 15 minutes of the second half. Junior Kathy Sepulveda netted her ninth of the season in the 56th minute to give UCSD a 1-0 lead. Three minutes later, senior Kelly Cochran put the Tritons up by two goals in the 59th minute with her ninth goal of the year. Senior Megan Dickey had assists on both of the team's goals, giving her four assists on the year.
CSUMB drew within one goal in the 85th minute as Kyla Flores beat Triton back-up goalkeeper, Mia Shirley, to make the score 2-1. Kelsie Rispoli assisted on the goal for the Otters.
UCSD held on for the win, keeping CSUMB from reaching the back of the net again over the final five minutes. Shirley played the final 14 minutes between the pipes for the Tritons after fellow sophomore Jessica McGovern played the first 76 minutes, making one save in the match.
Head coach Brian McManus saw his team out-shoot CSUMB by a 21-2 margin, while also holding a 10-0 advantage in corner kicks. The Otters' netminder, Erika Ulfelder made four saves in a losing effort during her 90 minutes of play in goal.
UC San Diego returns home to host both the men's and women's championship tournament next Friday and Sunday, October 27 and 29, at the Triton Soccer Field on the UCSD campus. The men's semifinals will be played at 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. before giving way for the women's semifinals matches that evening.
The UCSD women's team will face 4th-seeded Humboldt State at 7 p.m. next Friday evening in the second semifinal. The No. 2 seed, Chico State, will face the No. 3 seed, Sonoma State, in the first semifinal match at 4:30 p.m.
The men's championship match will be played at 11:30 a.m., while the women's championship match has a scheduled kickoff of 2 p.m. Sunday afternoon.
