LA JOLLA, Calif. - Freshman forward
Gabi Hernandez scored her fifth goal of the season, helping the No. 14 UC San Diego women's soccer squad hold off Cal State East Bay Sunday for a 1-0 victory.
"We didn't have our best game out there today, but we got an early goal and made it stand up," Tritons' head coach Brian McManus said. "We're going to have to work hard in practice all week and play much better if we want to be successful against Dominguez and L.A. next weekend."
Sunday's win is UCSD's sixth consecutive victory and improves the team's record to 11-2 overall and 8-2 in the California Collegiate Athletic Association. With Cal State Dominguez Hills and Cal State L.A. both coming up with overtime wins Sunday, the Tritons remain in the No. 3 position in a stacked CCAA South Division. UCSD will travel to play CSUDH at 7 p.m. Friday before challenging No. 21 CSULA at 7 p.m. on Oct. 19.
The Tritons picked up their early score Sunday through the passing of sophomores Sarah McTigue and Shelby Wong, before Hernandez finished the play with a header. McTigue, dribbling past midfield, found Wong in the left corner with a pass. Wong then sent a cross to the middle of the box, where Hernandez lined a header to the right of CSUEB freshman goalkeeper Nina Cefalo.
UCSD had plenty of chances to extend their lead before halftime, including a free kick from freshman defender Hayley Johnson that was kept out of the net by a diving stop from Cefalo at 37:53 and a header by McTigue that sailed high after a cross from freshman midfielder Alexa Enlow.
Wong, coming off a three-goal performance on Thursday against Western Washington, strung together some nice individual moves to push past her defender but the hard shot she sent toward the net was knocked up in the air and out of play by Cefalo roughly 13 minutes into the second half.
The most dangerous series of chances in the Pioneers' defensive zone came six minutes later when the ball bounced to the right side of the box and freshman midfielder Jessica Wi nailed a shot off the left post. On the carom, the ball led to a blocked shot off the foot of Wong, another shot from Wi that was batted down by the keeper and finally a shot by sophomore midfielder by Anne Wethe saved by Cefalo.
The Tritons ended up outshooting CSUEB 19-10 and the Pioneers also had their fair share of chances, including senior defender Britanie Strei and junior midfielder Abby Barton registering two shots on goal apiece. In the 76th minute freshman defender Dani Barbounis lined a low free kick just barely to the left of the net and a diving UCSD sophomore goalkeeper Kristin Armstrong.
Armstrong, with five saves on the afternoon, recorded her fourth shutout of the 2009 season.
