SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. ? The 3rd-ranked UC San Diego women's soccer jumped out to an early two goal lead in the first half and held on for a narrow 2-1 victory in the California Collegiate Athletic Association opener at Cal State San Bernardino on Friday afternoon. With the victory the Tritons improve to 4-0-0 overall and 1-0-0 in league play while dropping the Coyotes to 3-1-1 overall and 0-1-0 in conference action.
Junior Natasha Belak-Berger, who has scored the game-winning goal in each of the Tritons's first three games, began the scoring for head coach Brian McManus, giving UCSD a 1-0 lead off a pass from senior Alie Avina in the 15th minute. Junior Kelly Mayo would score what would prove to be the game-winning goal later in the first half, heading home a corner kick pass from sophomore Alexia Zatarain in the 23rd minute.
UCSD dominated the first half, outshooting CSUSB 10-1, requiring Coyotes goalkeeper Leslie Rhodes to make four of her five saves in the match.
The Coyotes responded in kind in the second half, outshooting UCSD 7-2 and forcing Tritons junior keeper Jessica McGovern to make four saves in the final 45 minutes.
Cal State cut the lead in half in the 59th minute when freshman Katie Liby controlled two linked passes from freshman Jenna Sanchez and sophomore Lauren Zellmer and drilled the ball past McGovern. Liby had a solid try at the equalizer in the 88th minute but her shot went wide of the right post.
UCSD will conclude its current four-match road trip on Sunday with a 3 p.m. contest at Cal Poly Pomona. The Tritons will take on the Broncos for the 35th time in program history on Sunday, looking to improve on their 22-9-3 all-time record against CPP.
