SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. - Senior captain Jeff Powers' first goal of the season with 18 seconds left in the first half, and a strong, collective defensive effort, lifted the No. 16 University of California San Diego men's soccer team to a massive 1-0 triumph over Cal State San Bernardino in a critical California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) match Friday at Premier Field.
With the victory, UC San Diego improves to 10-1-2 overall and 4-1-2 in the CCAA. Cal State San Bernardino, a winner of three straight coming in, falls to 8-4 overall and 5-2 in league play. The Tritons were coming off a tough first loss of 2018 last Sunday at San Francisco State in which they uncharacteristically allowed three goals in a 3-1 decision. With all results in from Friday's action, they moved up from seventh in the CCAA table at the start of the day, into a tie for fifth.
Redshirt junior winger Andy Sartor was fouled near the right touch line late in the opening period, and the match official signaled for the clock to stop with only 18 seconds left. Redshirt sophomore central midfielder and fellow substitute, Matt Davis, sent the resulting free kick into the six-yard box. Powers, a fifth-year senior right back, was well-placed to score from close range with the inside of his left foot. It was his first goal of the season, and put UC San Diego up 1-0 at the break.
Despite a couple of close calls, UC San Diego was able to deny any pressing efforts to equalize by the Coyotes the rest of the way, and saw the invigorating 1-0 result out.
Sophomore Triton goalkeeper Pedro Enciso (Vista/Rancho Buena Vista HS) made four saves for his seventh individual clean sheet of the season, matching his total from a year ago and giving him 14 for his college career. Junior Jacob Huber did not register a save for the home side.
Three minutes into the contest, Jeronimo Valdapena produced a hard right-footed shot from the right diagonal that Enciso made a nice save on.
The Tritons finally began generating a little on the offensive end, with their first four shots, three of them from freshman reserve forward Nick Cirrito, coming within a 143-second span between the 36th and 37th minutes. The third and final one was a header from a right-sided cross, that went just high of the target.
With under two minutes left, reigning CCAA Player of the Week, senior midfielder Danny Ortiz, hit a shot from the top of the box that glanced off the left post and came away.
Sergio Espindola's far-post header off a right-sided corner kick in the 70th minute went just wide to the left of the target as the Coyotes searched for an equalizer in the second half.
Aiding in the clean sheet along the Triton back line ahead of Enciso were Powers, redshirt freshman Oliver Nelson (Escondido/Escondido HS), junior Kelvin Uribe and redshirt freshman left back Darragh Buckley. All played the full 90 minutes, while senior holding central midfielder Matt Merrill was on the field for 72 minutes.
UC San Diego concludes this season-long four-match road stretch this Sunday, Oct. 14, at defending West Region champion Cal Poly Pomona. Kickoff at Kellogg Stadium is set for 11:30 a.m.
Triton Notes: UC San Diego leads the all-time series, 23-17-7, and has now won the last three meetings, all 1-0 ... Jeff Powers' other collegiate goal was also a game-winner, in a 2-0 home victory over Western Washington in the second round of the 2016 NCAA Championship on Nov. 13, 2016 ... Matt Davis' assist was his second.
About UC San Diego Athletics
With 30 national team championships, nearly 150 individual titles and the top student-athlete graduation rate among Division II institutions in the United States, the UC San Diego intercollegiate athletics program annually ranks as one of the most successful in the country. The Tritons sponsor 23 intercollegiate sport programs that compete on the NCAA Division I and II levels and, in summer 2020, will transition into full Division I status as a member of the Big West Conference. UC San Diego student-athletes exemplify the academic ideals of one of the world's preeminent institutions, graduating at an average rate of 91 percent. A total of 80 Tritons have earned Academic All-America honors, while 36 have earned prestigious NCAA Postgraduate Scholarships. In competition, more than 1,300 UC San Diego student-athletes have earned All-America honors.
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