LA JOLLA, Calif. ? UC San Diego men's soccer matched the energy and grit Wednesday of No. 4 Cal State Dominguez but despite the Tritons playing a man up during the match's final 48 minutes, neither team ended up knocking home a score as the contest ended in a 0-0 draw after two overtimes.
UCSD now stands at 5-0-1 overall and 2-0-1 in California Collegiate Athletic Association play. CSUDH holds a 7-0-1 record while going 2-0-1 as well in conference action.
In the high-intensity match the visiting Toros picked up a total of seven cautions ? the key one coming 15 minutes into the second half in the form of a second yellow to CSUDH junior midfielder Hiram Rangel. UCSD couldn't take advantage of the uneven lineup but played the Toros tough to the delight of the crowd of 641 taking in the Tritons' California Collegiate Athletic Association home opener.
“We knew coming in that it was going to be all about us,” UCSD head coach Jon Pascale said. “We did a good job of sticking together. We knew that if we took it one play at a time, we would be in position to win ? and we were.”
Despite the two offenses combining for just six shots on goal at the end of the 110 minutes played, many shots landed just wide from almost every imaginable angle. CSUDH ended up outshooting UCSD by a 17-11 margin.
The Toros controlled a majority of the possessions early, earning three corner kicks in the game's first 10 minutes. Tritons' sophomore defender Brandon Yee (Orinda, Calif.) launched UCSD's first shot at 13:39, firing it just barely above the upper right corner of the net. Midway through the first half, the two squads alternated receiving yellow cards as the feistiness rose a notch or two.
The Tritons rallied for another opportunity when junior defender Chris Gutierrez (North Hollywood, Calif.) one-timed a crossing pass up high, forcing CSUDH goalkeeper Justin Commins to make an acrobatic save in order to keep the match tied.
The even play continued in the second half as UCSD netminder Peter Akman (Tampa, Fla.) mirrored Commins by going up top and deflecting away a shot fired by junior midfielder Scott Mariano.
Roughly 12 minutes after Rangel obtained his second yellow card and subsequent red, sophomore midfielder Josh Jackson (Torrance, Calif.) recorded UCSD's second shot on goal, which was scooped in by Commins.
With the crowd holding its collective breath as the match headed into overtime, CSUDH carried a 13-4 corner kick advantage into the extra period. Nonetheless, the Tritons' backfield was holding tough despite the Toros having so many chances with set pieces.
The best chance of both overtimes came with about five minutes remaining in the first of the two periods. CSUDH junior forward Mario Guerrero hit the far right post on a free kick, taking advantage of a momentarily unattentive UCSD lineup trying to arrange a sturdy formation. The ball bounced away and both defenses played strong enough to leave the field with the scoreboard showing 0-0.
Akman earned his seventh career shutout with another strong performance in net.
The Tritons will challenge Cal State L.A., another South Division rival, on the road Friday at 4:30 p.m. The Golden Eagles have also gotten off to a strong start, sitting at 4-0-1 overall and 1-0-1 in conference action.
