LA JOLLA, Calif. - The UC San Diego men's soccer team scored two in the first half against Cal Poly Pomona Friday and didn't let up, ending the evening with a 3-0 victory.
The Tritons improve to 6-1-1 overall and 3-1-1 in California Collegiate Athletic Association play, which puts them in a tie for second place in the league's South Division with No. 9 Cal State Dominguez Hills. The loss drops CPP to 3-5 in 2008 while going 1-4 in conference action.
"Right now I think we're in a good situation," said sophomore defender Jared Kukura (San Diego, Calif.), who scored the game's first goal. "We're in a much better spot than we were in last year and that's a testament to the new players we've gotten. Everybody's working hard but we've got a lot more to accomplish."
In the 30th minute Friday, senior forward Tony Fernandez (San Diego, Calif.) fired a bicycle kick on target but despite a Broncos' defender keeping it out of the net, the ball hung in the air long enough for Kukura to get a header on it and knock it into the right side for the score. Kukura's two career goals have both come this season.
The best chance for CPP in the first half came with just about three minutes to play in the period when midfielder Aaron Borja managed to squeeze past the UCSD defense to force a one-on-one with Tritons' senior goalkeeper Peter Akman (Tampa, Fla.). As Akman went to the ground to make the save, Borja chipped over the keeper but the ball bounced just to the right of the net.
The UCSD squad came right back to score just before the half ended when junior midfielder Kyle Parton (Los Alamitos, Calif.) played a cross from right to left that senior forward Ali Shams (Studio City, Calif.) was able to head into the far corner of the net. The score at 43:29 to give the Tritons a 2-0 advantage heading into intermission was the first career goal for Shams, who is in his second year playing for UCSD.
Less than four minutes into the second half, the Tritons poured in their third score of the match. After senior forward Tom Caplan (Mission Viejo, Calif.) sprinted down the right side, his sliding shot bounced off CPP goalkeeper Thomas Ryan and to the feet of sophomore Brandon Yee (Orinda, Calif.). Yee easily lifted the deflected ball into the top right of the net for his first goal of the season and his second career score.
Both squads traded plenty of opportunies through the rest of the period. The Broncos failed to convert on a penalty kick in the 57th minute and with seven minutes to play, freshman forward Luis Garcia hit the right post with a shot before the ball bounced out of harm's way.
In the end though the Tritons were able to hold on for the 3-0 win as Akman earned shutout No. 5 on the season and the eighth of his career.
UCSD will challenge Cal State San Bernardino on Sunday at 12 p.m. The Coyotes lost to CSUDH on Friday by a score of 1-0 and now hold an overall record of 2-5-1, including a 2-2-1 mark in CCAA play.
