LA JOLLA, Calif. - A pair of veterans made their returns to the pitch, and in a big way, to rally the No. 14 University of California San Diego men's soccer program past Cal State Monterey Bay, 2-1, in the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) opener for both teams at Triton Soccer Stadium on Friday evening.
Redshirt junior winger Andy Sartor, who missed the entire 2017 season, and the first four matches of 2018, through separate injuries, came off the bench to provide the 70th-minute equalizer.
Fifth-year senior holding central midfielder Matt Merrill, absent the previous two contests, then picked a fine moment, and still finer format, for his first collegiate goal. In the 80th minute, sophomore forward Brett Jones played a left-sided corner kick on the ground, out toward the left diagonal. Merrill didn't even take a touch to settle or anything, and absolutely cracked a stunner with the inside of his right foot that hit the bottom of the crossbar in the upper right corner of the goal, and went in.
With a fifth consecutive victory to reach the midway point of an extensive 10-match homestand, UC San Diego stays perfect at 5-0 overall, and 1-0 in the CCAA. CSUMB drops to 1-3 overall and 0-1 in league play.
The Tritons' sophomore goalkeeper, Pedro Enciso, was not called upon to make a save over the 90 minutes. Junior Daniel Lomeli had four stops in the Otter net.
After neither team had any real promising scoring opportunities over the first 45 minutes, the visitors took a bit of a shock lead in the 52nd, the goal largely self-inflicted by the hosts. Harry Barba stole the ball on the right flank following a not-so-stellar throw-in organization by the Tritons, and played it into the box. Pedro Hernandez laid it off for Walmer Martinez, who took a touch ahead of a short square pass to Luis Lopez. The junior slotted his left-footed shot into the bottom right corner for his second of the season. Hernandez and Martinez both picked up assists.
Trailing for the very first time in 2018, UC San Diego woke up. In the 70th minute, redshirt senior right back Jeff Powers sent a pass into the box on the right side. Jones walled off his defender toward the end line and cut him onto his left foot. Lomeli saved his shot, but couldn't corral the ball. It deflected off a defender in front of him, and Sartor was at the edge of the six-yard-box to roof a right-footed one-time effort. Jones gained credit for the assist.
The winner came in the 80th, as junior left back Stjepan Kilic's left-sided cross generated a fourth and final corner kick for the home side. Instead of sending it into the mixer of the six-yard box, Jones opted for Merrill outside of the 18, and that decision paid huge dividends, as the Mission Viejo native whipped it into the corner.
Merrill in fact made a potentially-huge defensive contribution as well, earlier in the 60th minute. Already down 1-0, he was credited with a defensive save, as it appeared that a shot from close range on the right side by Hernandez, was perhaps headed on target, that is until Merrill tracked back and kicked it out for a corner.
The result gained a slight measure of revenge for head coach Jon Pascale's men, who needed a solitary goal and subsequent win in this fixture in Seaside on the final day of the regular season last year, to repeat as the CCAA regular-season champion, only to be held to a scoreless draw.
UC San Diego welcomes in Cal State East Bay (1-3, 0-1 CCAA) this Sunday, Sept. 16, at 11:30 a.m. That match will again serve as the first half of a doubleheader with the second-ranked and also-undefeated (5-0-1) Triton women. Parking and admission are both free at Triton Soccer Stadium on North Campus in La Jolla, or fans can watch the games live in high definition on UCSDtritons.tv.
Triton Notes: UC San Diego leads the all-time series, 9-2-4 ... The Tritons are an unbeaten 8-0-4 over the last 12 meetings with the Otters, with six of those eight wins of the one-goal variety ... UC San Diego was still missing freshman center back Noah Sonenstein for the third successive match ... Brett Jones' first collegiate two-assist game gives him the team lead with three, and four helpers for his career ... Andy Sartor's last game played was the 2016 CCAA Tournament semifinal on Nov. 4, 2016, in Turlock ... Sartor's goal was the third of his career, with the other two coming in a 6-0 home win over Saint Martin's on Sept. 10, 2016 ... Ten times now since the start of the 2016 season, the Tritons have turned a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 win, with seven instances in 2016, two in 2017, and the first one for 2018 tonight.
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