LA JOLLA, Calif. - The UC San Diego women's soccer team got exquisite long-distance strikes from a pair of local-product sophomores in the second half to defeat area foe Cal State San Marcos, 2-0, in a non-conference regular-season finale on Senior Night Friday at Triton Soccer Stadium.
UCSD, a winner of three straight and five of six down the stretch, moved to 12-5-1 overall. Cal State San Marcos dropped its third in a row and concluded the 2015 campaign at 3-9-5. The Tritons had blanked the Cougars, 2-0, also in La Jolla, in the league matchup between the new California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) opponents as well, just over a week prior on Oct. 21.
Katie O'Laughlin (Carlsbad/Pacific Ridge School) opened the scoring at 64:55, blasting a right-footed shot from just outside the penalty area on the right side, and placing it perfectly into the upper right corner in between the crossbar, right post and out-stretched CSUSM goalie. It was her seventh goal on the year, with assists going to co-captain Meghan Berry and fellow junior defender Kristen Sampietro. Sampietro threw the ball in on the left sideline for her first, with Berry taking a touch and crossing over to O'Laughlin for her second of 2015 on her birthday.
At 81:36, Taylor Ramos (San Diego/Coronado HS) tallied her first collegiate score to clinch victory. The central midfielder played the ball to freshman forward Mary Reilly (Chula Vista/Hilltop HS), who laid it back to Ramos, and she found the perfect combination of power and precision to hit the lower left corner of the net with her right foot from right outside the 18-yard-box. Reilly's assist was her third.
Kelcie Brodsky, the reigning National Soccer Coaches Association of America and CCAA Player of the Week, needed to make just a solitary save for UCSD in notching her eighth individual shutout of the year and 27th for her career. It was a fifth clean sheet over UCSD's last six contests. Erica Dory had seven stops for the Cougars.
The Tritons' senior trio of Brodsky, Maile Nilsson (San Diego/The Preuss School UCSD) and Lyndsay Gehring were recognized ahead of kickoff. The game was played in front of 501 spectators.
UCSD out-shot the Cougars on the night, 19-8, and took a season-best 12 corner kicks to just two by the opposition.
Redshirt sophomore Maxia Espino (Chula Vista/Hilltop HS) nearly put the Tritons up just 3:05 into the match, as she got her head to a Jordyn McNutt (San Diego/University City HS) corner, but Dory got down to make the save, and Espino sent the rebound over the frame. Reilly then had a strong attempt from the right diagonal in the 15th minute, but Dory was again up to the task, diving to her right to parry it out for another corner. Sophomore Anna Nilsson (San Diego/The Preuss School UCSD) had an exploratory left-footed effort land in Dory's lap in the 44th.
Ramos wound up with career bests of four shots and two shots on goal in 28 minutes off the bench, both totals tying for the match high.
CSUSM remained scoreless in five-plus games to round out its schedule, over 545:17 of play. The Cougars were able to muster just eight goals in their 17 matches.
UCSD will open the CCAA Tournament with a first-round tilt this coming Tuesday, Nov. 3, as it begins its 2015 postseason run. The location of that contest will not be determined, however, until Saturday's final round of league activity is completed. The Tritons could finish in the third, fourth or fifth spot in the CCAA table, and would play at home with a No. 3 or No. 4 seed, but have to travel with a five seed.
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