LA JOLLA, Calif. - There are good times for scoring your first collegiate goal.
And then there are great times for scoring your first collegiate goal.
Redshirt sophomore right back Jeff Powers picked an incredibly opportune time for his first, and actually went perhaps a little overboard, with a 30-yard standing right-footed stunner into the bottom right corner in the 11th minute of Sunday's 2-0 victory for No. 10 University of California San Diego over Western Washington University in the second round of the 2016 NCAA Division II Men's Soccer Championship at Triton Soccer Stadium.
Kuba Waligorski, himself a defender as UC San Diego's anchor at center back, doubled the advantage in the 70th minute, while the duo aided in a league-best 13th shutout for the nation's No. 3-ranked defense.
The result meant a first victory for the program in an NCAA Division II Championship, having gone 0-1-3 in three prior appearances. It also marked a first NCAA tournament triumph in the head-coaching career of the Tritons' ninth-year leader, Jon Pascale, the 2016 California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Coach of the Year.
UCSD remained unbeaten at home this season, now at 10-0-1, and has not been upended in La Jolla since Sept. 27, 2015. That's huge because the Tritons knew even going into Sunday's match, that a win over Western would mean at least one more home date.
As the West Region's highest remaining seed, UCSD has earned the right to host the next two rounds. Triton Soccer Stadium will welcome reigning West champion and CCAA rival Cal Poly Pomona, as well as Texas outfits St. Edward's and Midwestern State. The Tritons play CPP in the West final, otherwise known as the third round, this Friday night, Nov. 18, in primetime at 7 p.m. PT. St. Edward's and Midwestern State will begin the evening at 4 p.m. PT, vying for the South Central Region crown.
The winners of those two games meet in a national quarterfinal on Sunday, Nov. 20. Kickoff is set for 12 p.m. PT in La Jolla.
Sunday's victory moved the Tritons to 17-2-2 on the year overall, and 12-1-1 over their last 14 as double first-time champions of the CCAA regular season and tournament. Western Washington, of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference and Bellingham, Wash., ended its campaign at 10-5-4. The Vikings entered as one of the hotter teams in the land, playing their way into a first NCAA Championship by virtue of a 5-0-1 mark down the stretch before achieving a first NCAA tourney triumph in program history on Friday in La Jolla, 3-2 in overtime over No. 19 Dixie State.
Western Washington began with a big flurry and really should have gained the upper hand at the outset. Only 1:54 in, a good through ball put Anthony Dean free on goal toward the left side, but his shot was remarkably pushed off the left post and out for a corner kick by the Tritons' all-world goalkeeper, Cameron McElfresh.
The Vikings threatened again in the sixth minute, McElfresh again able to parry Dean's effort out for another corner. In the 22nd, Dean put teammate Drew Barker into a dangerous spot, but McElfresh, the fifth-year senior, picked a phenomenal day to have arguably the best match of his career. On this occasion, he charged out of his net to narrow the angle, went low and denied Barker the equalizer.
Just moments before, redshirt junior forward Malek Bashti nearly doubled the advantage from strong combination play. Strike partner Sam Palano laid off a long pass around the penalty spot, but Bashti's shot was saved by WWU's Tyler Visten.
The visitors had generated one more chance before the interval. Dean, a quality player out of The Netherlands who wreaked havoc all afternoon, went agonizingly wide to the right of McEflresh's right post from the left diagonal, in the 39th.
Waligorski certainly increased the comfort level of the 558 fans on hand on a gorgeous mid-November Sunday afternoon in La Jolla, at the 69:11 mark. The Tritons set up for a free kick on the left side, and junior reserve forward Uly de la Cal, in particularly fine form of late, provided the killer feed that Waligorski simply had to direct into the back of the net, with his side of all things, from inside six yards.
Both sides had one exceptional opportunity in the second stanza. In the 72nd, fourth-year senior midfield playmaker Riley Harbour unleashed a wicket shot that looked destined for the upper left corner, but Visten, a junior, somehow reached it and knocked it out for a corner.
Finally with under 10 minutes to go, Colton Ronk's near-post header from a left-sided Eleazar Galvan corner kick came back off the left post, with Luke Olney's subsequent header off another feed from the left, landing harmlessly in McElfresh's lap.
McElfresh finished with six saves, one off of his best, for his 12th individual clean sheet of the year and 31st of his illustrious career. Visten had three stops for WWU.
Western actually held a narrow 14-12 edge in shots credited.
Triton Notes: UCSD is 1-1-3 over its four NCAA Championship appearances, including 1-0-1 at home and 1-0 against Western Washington ... The Tritons evened the all-time series with the Vikings at 3-3, having most recently dropped a 2-0 decision up in Washington on Sept. 5, 2015 ... UCSD had not played at home in nearly a month, since a 3-0 defeat of Cal State Dominguez Hills on Senior Day on Oct. 16 ... The Tritons have posted nine consecutive shutouts at home and have not conceded in La Jolla in 911:15 ... The 17 wins are the Tritons' most since going 21-2-1 during their last Division III national-title season in 1993 ... Uly de la Cal's assist on the second goal was his seventh, tying him for the team lead with Sam Palano and roommate Malek Bashti ... The goal by Kuba Waligorski was his second this year and fourth as a Triton ... Several alums were on hand in support, from national champion Todd Curran, to more current players like Ryan Blair, Alessandro Canale, Tsuk Haroush, Scott MacBride, Dustin Tannenhaus, Cory Wolfrom, All-Americans Alec Arsht and Josh Cohen, and a number of others ... Prior to kickoff Sunday, a moment of silence was held for former UCSD men's soccer player (2014-15) Sean Pleskow, who tragically passed away last weekend ... Both the Triton men's and women's soccer teams wore patches on their jerseys in remembrance of Pleskow during their NCAA second-round games in La Jolla this weekend.
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