LA JOLLA, Calif. - The UC San Diego men's soccer team dropped a 1-0 decision to Cal Poly Pomona Sunday in an evenly-matched defensive struggle. It was the fourth-straight loss for the Tritons, with all four of the matches having been decided by just one score.
The Broncos, improving to 9-7-1 overall and 7-6-1 in the California Collegiate Athletic Association, broke the 0-0 tie in the 48th minute when senior forward Kevin Ramirez knocked in a rebound shot from close range. The UCSD squad, falling to 7-7-4 overall and 4-7-3 through conference play, will look to bounce back in the final regular season series when it hosts No. 10 Cal State L.A. and defending national champion Cal State Dominguez Hills next weekend.
The CPP offense found daylight early on in the first half, when senior midfielder Rigo Cardenas sent in a cross to the box just 90 seconds into the match. Fellow senior Marc Glogowsky tried to flick it to the left of Tritons' senior goalkeeper Peter Akman but the UCSD netminder made a spectacular leaping grab to take a goal away from the Broncos.
The two squads ended up with six shots apiece in the first half. Junior Shane Micheil and senior Tony Choi attempted two each for the Tritons but all four fell off target.
Out of halftime, CPP broke through for the match's first score at the 47:34 mark. After a series of close attempts were batted down by Akman, Ramirez nailed his rebound shot low into the left of the net to give the Broncos a 1-0 advantage.
Roughly five minutes later, the Tritons put together a solid chance off of a corner kick from freshman midfielder Kian Malek. Tracking the cross off the restart, junior defender Jared Kukura took a sliding shot that sailed over the opponent's net.
Midway through the second half, Micheil attempted a shot that ended up blocked at the top of the 18. Choi managed to control the deflection and quickly passed to his left to find junior Kasra Sarabakhsh, who also blasted a shot high and wide.
The goal from Ramirez held up though as the Tritons failed to get on the scoreboard.
UCSD will return to action on Friday when it hosts CSULA at 4:30 p.m. The Golden Eagles, coming off of two non-conference wins over Seattle Pacific and Western Washington, sit at 15-2-1 overall and 11-2-1 in the CCAA.
