CARSON, Calif. ? The UC San Diego men's soccer team allowed a pair of first half goals and ultimately dropped a 2-0 decision to 10th-ranked Cal State Dominguez Hills Wednesday afternoon at Toro Stadium. CSUDH's Kyle Holland needed just 1:33 to score the game-winner and Carmelo Terranova found the net in the 27th minute as the Toros got the best of the Tritons in a CCAA South Division matchup.
Unable to keep the momentum going after Sunday's impressive 2-0 win at Chico State, UCSD falls to 7-5-2 overall and 4-5-2 in the ultra competitive California Collegiate Athletic Association. The Tritons, who started the 2008 campaign 6-1-1, have now lost four of their last six.
Cal State Dominguez Hills outshot UCSD by a 20-9 margin on the way to its second straight victory and sixth win in the team's last seven outings. The Toros improved to 13-2-1 overall and 8-2-1 in league to keep the pressure on first place Cal State L.A. The Tritons will host the 4th-ranked Golden Eagles Sunday afternoon in La Jolla.
After the two teams had to settle for a 0-0 draw in a well-played match at Triton Soccer Field on September 17, it took less than two minutes for Cal State Dominguez Hills to jump in front on Wednesday. Midfielder Andrew Martinez played a ball up to forward Greg Piechota, who one-timed it to his right for a streaking Holland. All alone in front of the keeper, Holland punched it home from five yards out to give the home team the early 1-0 lead. Martinez and Piechota were both credited with an assist on the play.
The Toros, who had outscored their opponents 27-9 entering Wednesday's contest, doubled their lead 25 minutes later after Terranova collected a loose ball 25 yards out and drilled a left-footed bender top shelf past Triton keeper
Peter Akman for the 2-0 advantage.
UCSD did it's best to get back into the match in the second half, but the Tritons could get very little going against the CSUDH defense. Toro netminder Justin Commins finished with four saves, including big stops of shots from
Tom Caplan,
Daniel Pavitt, and
Tyler Zupan in the second period. Caplan finished with three shots to lead UCSD offensively, while
Tony Choi finished with two.
Like the previous meeting between the two teams, Wednesday's match was extremely physical, featuring 39 fouls and five cautions.
After three straight on the road, the Tritons will come home looking for an upset of Cal State L.A. on Sunday. The Golden Eagles will put their four-match winning streak on the line against the Toros in a battle for first place Friday night before traveling to UCSD to close the weekend. Kickoff for Sunday's contest is slated for noon.
