LA JOLLA, Calif. - The 14th-ranked University of California San Diego men's soccer team could not find a way past a stout Cal State East Bay defense, as the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) sides played to a scoreless stalemate on Sunday afternoon at Triton Soccer Stadium.
UC San Diego takes its first blemish of 2018, but remains unbeaten at 5-0-1 overall and 1-0-1 in the CCAA. CSUEB heads home at 1-3-1 overall and 0-1-1 in league play.
Sophomore Pedro Enciso (Vista/Rancho Buena Vista HS) made three saves over the 90 minutes of regulation and two 10-minute overtime periods, notching his third shutout of the season and 10th of his career. East Bay senior Omar Coronel had five stops for his second clean sheet.
The Tritons doubled up the Pioneers in shots, 21-10, and had a pair of efforts bang off the crossbar in the second half, through freshman forward Nick Cirrito and junior center back Jonathan Stoop.
UC San Diego was playing short-handed, missing three players along the back line who had started the opener. True freshman center back Noah Sonenstein sat out a fourth straight match, while juniors Kelvin Uribe and Stjepan Kilic were absent due to knocks they suffered in Friday's contest. Redshirt freshman Oliver Nelson, Stoop, and redshirt freshman Darragh Buckley spelled them, with Buckley at left back in his college debut. Redshirt senior Jeff Powers was still at right back.
Sophomore forward Brett Jones nearly scored just eight and a half minutes into the game. After senior winger Kiefer Cooksey's shot from the left side of the penalty area was blocked, Jones' rebound attempt from the right side of the six-yard box looked to be cleared off the line around the near post by East Bay's Chris Sumano.
Christian Cordell's hard shot from the right diagonal, following nice combination play between the senior winger and sophomore forward Jonathan Sabouri (Carlsbad/San Dieguito HS Academy), was caught by Coronel in the 22nd.
In the 74th, Ciritto laid into one with the inside of his right foot from the left diagonal, only to be denied by the bar at the upper right corner. Redshirt sophomore central midfielder Matt Davis tried to get something on the rebound, but it went over the target. Stoop's powerful right-footed free kick with just over two minutes to go in regulation, also found the woodwork.
On the other side, Nelson had a key tackle with about 12 and change left in regulation, to cut down a promising Pioneer attack. Enciso then made back-to-back impactful contributions over the final 10 minutes of the 90. He first punched a left-sided cross out of the danger area, before rejecting Jonathan Ayala on a breakaway.
UC San Diego continues its 10-match season-opening homestand next week, dipping out of conference two final times. They will take on CCAA and city rival, and fellow unbeaten, Cal State San Marcos (6-0, 2-0 CCAA), in a primetime derby on Friday night, Sept. 21. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at Triton Soccer Stadium on North Campus in La Jolla. Admission is free, or fans can watch in high definition on UCSDtritons.tv.
Triton Notes: UC San Diego has still never lost to Cal State East Bay, leading the all-time series, 12-0-2, including 10-0-2 since the Pioneers joined the CCAA in 2009 ... The Tritons' 21 shots were a season high, and their most since producing 29 in another scoreless draw in the 2017 opener at Biola ... UC San Diego is an undefeated 9-0-20 over its last 29 overtime matches going back to 2014 ... With the injury absences, fifth-year senior Matt Merrill played the full 110 minutes at holding central midfielder, a career high.
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