THE SCHEDULE
Match 3
vs. RV Colorado School of Mines (1-1, 0-0 RMAC)
Thursday, Sept. 8 • 7 p.m.
Triton Soccer Stadium • La Jolla
Live Video • Live Stats
Match 4
vs. Saint Martin's (0-2, 0-0 GNAC)
Saturday, Sept. 10 • 7 p.m.
Triton Soccer Stadium • La Jolla
Live Video • Live Stats
UC SAN DIEGO REMAINS AT HOME, TRIES TO STAY PERFECT
The University of California San Diego men's soccer team continues a season-long five-game homestand this week with another pair of non-conference matchups. UC San Diego (2-0) plays host to Colorado Mines (1-1) on Thursday, Sept. 8, followed by Saint Martin's (0-2) on Saturday, Sept. 10. Both contests at Triton Soccer Stadium are set for primetime with 7 p.m. kickoffs. The Tritons went 5-1-2 inside the friendly confines in 2015, and have won each of the first two of their 10 total home dates in 2016. UCSD and Cal State East Bay are the only two California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) sides at 2-0 following the first week of the season.
TRITON SOCCER MATCHDAY
Once again in 2016, all regular-season home matches at Triton Soccer Stadium are free to attend. Parking permits are required, however, on weeknights on the UC San Diego campus. Parking permits can be purchased at machines situated at corners of either of the nearest parking lots, behind the spectator stand, as well as the Hopkins Parking Structure adjacent to RIMAC. Parking is free on Saturday and Sunday.
TRITON SOCCER NOW ON UCSDTRITONS.TV!
For the very first time, all matches at Triton Soccer Stadium in 2016 feature a live video stream on UCSDtritons.tv. The platform, the product of a partnership between UC San Diego Athletics and local broadband services and technology giant ViaSat, is in its first full year. All broadcasts are live, in high definition, and can be viewed from smartphones and tablets alongside desktop and laptop computers. UC San Diego alum and former baseball pitcher (2007-08) Tim Strombel (@Timmy2Sides) will primarily handle the play-by-play duties, with local personality Taylor Quellman (@TJQuellman) filling in, and an array of guests. Viewing is subscription-based, though it is free from UCSD campus IP addresses. A package that gives viewers access to all streamed events throughout the 2016-17 academic year is available for $34.99. The channel carries all Triton home basketball and volleyball contests, a majority of baseball, softball and water polo games, and a variety of other home events featuring virtually every one of UCSD's 23 intercollegiate sports at least once. A single-day pay-per-view option can be purchased for $5.99, meaning doubleheaders are two-for-one. Events are archived. All games have live stats. Select road matches will also have video and/or audio. Fans can access live coverage from the Schedule/Results page, or by clicking on the links above. Starting lineups, live in-game updates and other news and notes can be found by following Triton Soccer all season long on the UCSD Athletics Twitter handle (@UCSDtritons). Finally, check out the CCAA live scoreboard here to keep up on results around the league.
FREE POSTERS!
Free posters of the 2016 UC San Diego fall sports will be available at Triton Soccer Stadium during this week's home matches. They can also be found at the kiosk inside the main RIMAC entrance.
FIFTH IN CCAA PRESEASON POLL
UC San Diego is favored for fifth in the 2016 CCAA race, according to a preseason poll conducted by league head coaches. The CCAA favorite is reigning West Region champion and 2015 national runner-up Cal Poly Pomona. The Broncos, also two-time defending CCAA Tournament champs, accumulated 137 points and eight out of the 13 available first-place votes. Cal State Dominguez Hills, which earned the 2015 CCAA regular-season banner ahead of CPP, was just three points shy in second (134 points), with the five remaining first-place nods. Cal State LA, a third league foe nationally-ranked in the preseason, took up the No. 3 spot (126 points), followed by Sonoma State (100), UCSD (97) and Stanislaus State (87) to round out the conference's predicted six-team tournament field. Chico State (86) was barely outside in seventh.
FOR OPENERS
UCSD is now 12-3-2 in season openers in the Division II era following last Thursday's 2-1 defeat of Azusa Pacific. The Tritons had won two straight lid-lifters, 2-1 in overtime at California Baptist in 2013, and by that same score at home against Saint Martin's in 2014, ahead of a 1-1 draw at SMU last year. They are thus unbeaten in their last four.
A LOOK BACK AT LAST WEEK
UCSD posted a pair of come-from-behind 2-1 wins at home courtesy of late goals after facing 1-0 deficits to begin the year at home last week. Sam Palano volleyed in the 68th-minute equalizer and turned provider for twin brother Nick Palano with just 1:41 left in the second overtime to down West Region rival Azusa Pacific on Thursday. Then it was Riley Harbour's hero turn on Saturday against Westmont, as he slotted home his first of the year in the 79th minute, after Uly de la Cal had tied the match late in the first half.
OVERTIME STREAK OVER
Last Thursday's triumph over Azusa Pacific marked UCSD's first overtime win since Malek Bashti's first collegiate goal took down rival Chico State in the 2013 CCAA semifinals in Turlock. The Tritons went 0-1-12 in overtime contests in 2014 and 2015, with 12 straight draws since, ironically, a 1-0 double-overtime loss to APU in La Jolla back on Sept. 20, 2014.
#PALANOPOWER
The season opener with Azusa Pacific meant the first time in the four-year college careers of Nick Palano and Sam Palano that the identical twins combined on a goal, and was also the first time they had both scored in the same match.
BASHTI'S BACK
After missing the entire 2015 season through injury, redshirt junior striker Malek Bashti has started each of the first two games this year, and assisted on three of the Tritons' four goals in a pair of home wins. He entered 2016 with one career helper.
WE SAID MORE OFFENSE WAS NEEDED
UC San Diego managed just 15 goals in 18 contests a year ago. The Tritons have scored a pair in each of their first two matches, having not produced multiple scores in back-to-back games even once in 2015.
HOPEFUL RETURN TO PREMIER DEFENSE
UCSD boasted one of the top seven defenses nationally in the NCAA Division II in terms of team goals-against average for three straight seasons between 2012-14, but fell back to the 48th spot a year ago (1.09). The Tritons led the country in that category in 2012 with a then-CCAA-record mark of 0.44, before finishing fourth in 2013 (0.52) and seventh in 2014 (0.65).
2016 SEASON OUTLOOK
UC San Diego had no seniors on its 2015 roster, but has eight in 2016. The Tritons welcome back the core of their defense in redshirt seniors Cameron McElfresh in goal and Brett Sampiere and Kuba Waligorski on the back line alongside junior Kyle Panganiban. Waligorski is a two-time All-CCAA Second Team pick, with McElfresh gaining All-CCAA honorable mentions for each of the past two years without missing a single minute between the posts. Sampiere, making a permanent return to his natural spot at right back, earned All-CCAA honorable mentions in 2013 and 2015. Nolan Mac and Jeff Powers were in the lineup at times and will vie for minutes.
The offensive production should be boosted by the return of Malek Bashti after missing the entirety of 2015 through injury. Junior Uly de la Cal tied for the team high in total points from two goals and three assists a year ago. Senior Riley Harbour, one of two Tritons he shared that designation with, is back in central midfield, as are Justice Duerksen, Zachary Lagotta and Nick Palano among numerous wing options. Lagotta was All-CCAA honorable mention as a sophomore in 2015. Sam Palano joins his identical twin brother as a fourth-year senior who will be counted on.
2015 REWIND
UC San Diego is coming off of three successive postseason appearances in the form of the CCAA Tournament, with NCAA Championship berths in 2013 and 2014. The Tritons went 6-6-6 in 2015, breaking a string of five straight years with an overall winning percentage of greater than .500 under head coach Jon Pascale. UCSD lost just one of its last seven regular-season contests, and was 5-3-4 in league play.
ROSTER NOTES
Among 29 players on the 2016 roster are 23 returners, just six newcomers, and eight seniors. There are four San Diego products, in redshirt senior right back Brett Sampiere (Solana Beach/Torrey Pines HS), junior winger Zachary Lagotta (Cathedral Catholic HS), sophomore forward Nathaniel Bloom (Encinitas/San Dieguito HS Academy) and redshirt freshman midfielder Daniel Boemer (San Diego/Scripps Ranch HS).
CCAA FORMAT UNCHANGED
All 13 CCAA squads have launched their 2016 seasons, with the first bit of league activity taking place next Wednesday, Sept. 14. For the third year in a row, the CCAA slate will consist of a single round robin, with every team facing off once against one another for 12 matches total, and the top six sides (based on most points; three points for a league win; one for a tie) in the final regular-season standings qualifying for the 2016 CCAA Tournament. Cal State San Marcos, a new addition in 2015, is ineligible again this time around. First-round matchups will take place on the campus of the No. 3 and No. 4 seeds on Tuesday, Nov. 1. The semifinals and final will be hosted by Stanislaus State for the sixth time in the last eight years, at Warrior Stadium in Turlock, Nov. 4-6.
HEAD COACH JON PASCALE
Jon Pascale, a two-time CCAA Coach of the Year through back-to-back honors in 2012 and 2013, has posted a 76-46-31 (.598) overall record in his ninth season in charge of the UC San Diego men's soccer program. He is 56-37-23 (.582) in arguably the toughest NCAA Division II conference in the nation, the CCAA. Pascale has guided the Tritons to six straight campaigns with an overall record of .500 or better, and six winning seasons out of his eight. They are coming off of three successive berths in the CCAA Tournament, with trips to the NCAA Championship in 2013 and 2014. A 1-0 home victory over Sonoma State on Sept. 29, 2013, gave him career win No. 50, while a 2-0 triumph at Stanislaus State in the very next match on Oct. 4 marked his 100th contest at the Triton helm. Pascale directed his first postseason tilt on Nov. 8, 2013, in Turlock, a come-from-behind, 2-1 overtime win over rival Chico State in a CCAA semifinal. He made his NCAA Championship debut as a head coach on Nov. 16, 2013, in La Jolla. A 2-0 home decision over Cal State East Bay on Oct. 12, 2014, meant CCAA win No. 50 for Pascale, who coached his 100th CCAA tilt at Cal State Monterey Bay five days later.
ABOUT THE OREDIGGERS
Colorado Mines (1-1) dropped from No. 6 in the preseason national poll, to the others receiving votes category, following a 2-0 home loss to then-14th-ranked St. Edward's on Sunday. The Orediggers, from Golden, Colo., and members of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC), began their year with a 3-0 home win over Dixie State. They suffered just one loss a year ago in going 18-1-3, including an unbeaten 9-0-1 run through the RMAC. The lone loss came against West Region champion Cal Poly Pomona, 3-2 in overtime, in a national quarterfinal in Wichita Falls, Texas. CSM is the preseason RMAC favorite, gathering nine of 11 first-place votes. A trio of Oredigger juniors were Preseason All-RMAC picks in midfielders David Boldt and Nikolaus Grotz, and defender Bryce Townsend. Seven-time RMAC Coach of the Year Frank Kohlenstein is in his 19th season in charge at Mines.
SERIES HISTORY
Thursday night will mark the first-ever meeting between these programs.
ABOUT THE SAINTS
Saint Martin's (0-2), located in Lacey, Wash., is a member of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC). The Saints were picked to finish seventh in the seven-team GNAC in that league's preseason coaches' poll. They have surrendered nine goals over two defeats to begin the year, 6-2 at No. 24 Cal State LA and 3-2 at California Baptist. SMU held a 2-1 first-half lead over CSULA and 2-1 halftime edge against CBU. The Saints went 6-12-1 overall, including 1-7 away from home, and 4-10 in league play in 2015. SMU hosts Notre Dame de Namur in its home opener on Tuesday afternoon before taking its second two-game trip to California. Rob Walker is in his 10th season in charge.
SERIES HISTORY
UCSD and Saint Martin's have met three times previously, with the series even at 1-1-1. The sides played to a 1-1 draw in the season opener for both at SMU last Sept. 3. Previously, the Saints posted a 1-0 victory on Sept. 3, 2011, with the Tritons rallying for a 2-1 triumph to begin the 2014 campaign on Sept. 4. Brandon Bauman equalized with just 50 ticks left in the first half, with Sam Palano notching the winner at 79:08.
GEAR UP
For the latest in Triton athletic gear, make sure to visit ucsdtritonsgear.com. Run by UCSD Athletics' online partner Advanced-Online, the site provides an on-demand option for Triton Athletic apparel and merchandise. Fans have access to over 600 products that can be processed and shipped within 24 hours.
FOR THE YOUNGER CROWD
Got some young Triton fans in your family? If they are eighth grade or under, check out the Junior Triton Club. Membership includes a free t-shirt, admission to over 100 UCSD home athletic events, and much more!
SOCIAL MEDIA (#AllForOne)
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UP NEXT
The Tritons conclude a season-long five-game homestand, and the non-conference portion of their schedule, next week against a pair of Pacific West Conference opponents. UC San Diego hosts city rival Point Loma on Wednesday, Sept. 14, with a 7 p.m. kickoff at Triton Soccer Stadium, before making the short trip north to Concordia Irvine on Saturday, Sept. 17, for an 11 a.m. start.
#AllForOne
