LA JOLLA, Calif. ? The UC San Diego men's soccer team rallied to tie the score in the second half but came up on the short side of the decision, falling to Cal State L.A. in double overtime by a 2-1 margin on Sunday afternoon at Triton Soccer Field on the UCSD campus. With the loss the Tritons' record goes to 1-6-1 overall and 1-4-1 in California Collegiate Athletic Association play while the Golden Eagles' record improves to 7-2-2 overall and 5-1-0 in league action.
After both teams played to a scoreless first half, Cal State L.A. was the first to get on the board as Patrick Thurston scored on a penalty shot in the 58th minute of the contest. The Golden Eagles were awarded the free kick after UCSD netminder Peter Akman was given a yellow card for taking down a CSULA player inside the box. The goal for Thurston was his second of the season.
The young Tritons clawed their way back into the contest as Jason Le scored his third goal in the last two matches in the 70th minute off passes from Tony Choi and Tom Caplan. The goal came from only eight yards out after Choi send a ball into Caplan who sent the ball into the penalty area where Le turned and fired his shot past Cal State L.A. goalkeeper Tobias Hummel to know the score at one apiece.
Niether team could find the go ahead goal in the final 20 minutes of regulation or the 10 minutes of the first overtime period. The golden goal came at the 104:20 mark of the second overtime period when Spencer Tripp sent a ball to the left side of the field where Morten Marthinsen was narrowly onside before beating the UCSD defense. Marthinsen drew the UCSD ?keeper out before beating him on the low left side for the 2-1 victory. The goal was Marthinsen's eighth of the year.
CSULA held a narrow 18-13 advantage in shots taken during the game, but it was UCSD that held a 9-8 advantage in shots after the first period. The Tritons also held a commanding 11-3 advantage in corner kicks, none of which, however, found the back of the net.
Akman finished the match with five saves for the Tritons while Hummel stopped two of the three UCSD shots on goal.
The Tritons will take a brief break from league play next week, traveling to the Pacific Northwest for a pair of games next Wednesday and Friday in Seattle, Wash. UCSD will play at No. 4 Seattle Pacific on September 26 at 7 p.m. before taking on No. 15 Seattle University on Friday afternoon at 3 p.m.
