CARSON, Calif. - The UC San Diego men's soccer team played
to a 0-0 draw Friday on the road against Cal State Dominguez Hills, as Tritons'
goalkeeper Jesse Brennan led the defense with a career-high seven saves.
"When called upon, Jesse made the big stops," UCSD head coach Jon Pascale said.
"I give all our guys a lot of credit for how they played today. We still have
some players out because of injuries and a lot of different guys stepped up. It
was a physical game, each team had their chances and we're proud of how hard
our team fought."
The Tritons now stands at 3-4-4 overall and 3-3-3 within the California
Collegiate Athletic Association, while the Toros sit at 7-2-2 overall and 5-2-2
in league play. UCSD, 4-0-2 in their last six matches, will challenge Cal State
L.A. on Sunday at 11:30 a.m. in Los Angeles.
Brennan and the UCSD defense were tested from start to finish in Friday's match
but held tough amid the pressure. Despite the host CSUDH squad outshooting the
Tritons 18-4 through the 110 minutes of action, the UCSD offense certainly had
its share of chances.
With under four minutes to go in the final overtime period, Tritons' junior
Kasra Sarabakhsh fired a free kick toward the net that ended up bouncing off the
post and away from danger. The Toros attempted two shots after that point, with
both attempts getting blocked away by UCSD defenders.
Aside from Brennan playing every minute of every match so far in 2010, Jared
Kukura and Alec Arsht have also accomplished that feat this season.
"Dominguez is a very strong attacking team and they tested our defense all
night," Pascale said. "Jared, Alec and the rest of the backline stepped up and
held tough."
The Tritons had a chance to break the scoreless tie late in regulation as well,
with Adam Zernik lining up for a corner kick at the 89:21. The set piece didn't
result in goal though and the match moved into overtime.
CSUDH ended up with an 8-3 advantage in corner kicks but neither team attempted
one in the 20 minutes of extra time. While Brennan finished with his seven
saves, Toros' netminder Markus Dickerson didn't collect a stop.
After Sunday's match against CSULA, the Tritons will return home to host
14th-ranked Chico State on Oct. 15 at 7 p.m.
