LA JOLLA, Calif. – Freshman midfielder
Cooper Lachenbruch scored a goal and added two assists to lift the University of California San Diego men's soccer team to a 4-2 victory over San Francisco State in the opening round of the CCAA Tournament Tuesday night at Triton Soccer Stadium. Playing their first match in ten days, the Tritons improve to 14-4 on the season. The Gators conclude their season at 10-7.
With the victory, the third seed Tritons move into the CCAA semifinals Friday morning. It will mark UC San Diego's first appearance in the CCAA semifinals since the Tritons won the tournament in 2016.
The Gators struck first, getting on the board when Julio Gonzalez Ponce sent it in high and found the back of the net in the ninth minute to put the visitors in front, 1-0. The Tritons leveled the score in the 17th minute when junior forward
Brett Jones took a feed from redshirt senior midfielder
Andy Sartor and Jones' sliding strike made the score 1-1. It was Jones' team-best 11th goal of the season.
San Francisco State struck right back less than 60 seconds later. After a yellow card was issued to UC San Diego senior back
Kelvin Uribe inside the box, the Gators' Jonathan Orozco converted a penalty kick to take a 2-1 lead.
Once again, the Tritons responded. This time, Lachenbruch fed Jones who shot high left into the back of the net, leveling the score at 2-2 in the 20th minute. The score stayed deadlocked at two apiece heading into halftime.
UC San Diego out-shot San Francisco State, 5-4, in the first half. The Tritons had five corner kicks to just one corner for the Gators.
In the 63', Lachenbruch picked up his second assist of the night as he connected with junior forward
Jonathan Sabouri who scored for the eighth time this season. Five minutes later, it was Lachenbruch himself, scoring top shelf with the left foot to put the home team up, 4-2. It was Lachenbruch's second tally of the season.
UC San Diego had 14 shots on the night, while the Gators registered eight. Tritons junior goalkeeper
Pedro Enciso was credited with two saves in the win.
The CCAA Tournament continues Friday at Triton Soccer Stadium with a pair of semifinal matches. Second seed Cal Poly Pomona will face UC San Diego at 11 a.m., with top seed and third-ranked Cal State LA facing four seed Cal State San Bernardino at 1:30 p.m. The two winners will meet in Sunday's championship match at 11:30 a.m. Tickets for each day's action can be purchased on-site, with prices starting at $5.
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 82 Tritons have earned Academic All-America honors, while 37 have earned prestigious NCAA Post Graduate Scholarships. In competition, more than 1,300 UC San Diego student-athletes have earned All-America honors.
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