LA JOLLA, Calif. ? Senior forward Tony Fernandez's goal in the 83rd minute broke a scoreless tie and proved to be the difference as the UC San Diego men's soccer team knocked off No. 4 Cal State L.A. Sunday afternoon at Triton Soccer Field. The Golden Eagles outshot the Tritons 11-5 for the match, but it was UCSD that found the net in another defensive battle between the two squads.

The Tritons, who won at home for the first time since September 26, improved to 8-5-2 overall and evened their California Collegiate Athletic Association record at 5-5-2 with two league games remaining. The Golden Eagles fall to 10-3-2 and 7-3-2 in the CCAA after dropping their second straight.

"It was a hard fought, physical match and our guys did a great job of keeping their focus," head coach Jon Pascale said. "They battled all afternoon and found a way to put one in against a very, very good team. We know we're capable of playing with the top teams in our conference and we showed that out here today."

After over 80 minutes of scoreless soccer, the Tritons took the lead at the 82:02 mark as Fernandez finally found a seam in the Golden Eagle defense. The play started when senior forward Tom Caplan dribbled up right side and crossed a ball through the box for junior Tony Choi. Choi collected the pass with one foot and left it for a streaking Fernandez, who punched it past Golden Eagle keeper Tobias Hummel for what stood as the only goal of the match.

The goal was Fernandez' third of the season and first since he scored twice to lead UCSD past Concordia Irvine on August 30. He now leads the team in scoring with eight points in 2008.

The Tritons could have easily fallen behind early in the first period when the ball was misplayed on the backline. CSULA midfielder Josh Sandoval was on top of the play and got off a clean look, but senior goalkeeper Peter Akman made an incredible diving save to erase the threat.

The Golden Eagles would have multiple scoring opportunities on the day, but Akman and the Triton defense turned in a great effort to hold Cal State L.A. scoreless. Akman finished with six saves ? one off his season mark ? en route to his eighth shutout of the season.

In addition to outshooting UCSD 11-5, CSULA held a commanding 8-0 advantage on corner kicks. 

The Tritons and Golden Eagles have played two hotly contested contests this season, with Cal State L.A. winning the first meeting 1-0 on September 19 in Los Angeles. That tit featured 28 fouls and three cautions, while a total of 30 fouls were called and five yellow cards were issued in Sunday's rematch.

UC San Diego will now have five days off before returning to the pitch against Settle Pacific next Saturday, October 25. The Tritons will host the Falcons on senior day before traveling to Cal State San Bernardino and Cal Poly Pomona to wrap up the regular season October 31 and November 2.