CEDAR CITY, Utah – UC San Diego sophomore forward Kennedy Carter scored off a corner kick in the 94th minute to lift the Tritons women's soccer team to a 2-1 overtime victory over Southern Utah on Tuesday afternoon at Thunderbird Soccer Field. The win marks UC San Diego's first as a Division I program.
 
With the victory, the Tritons are now 1-2-1 on the season, while the Thunderbirds fell to 1-3-0.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The match was scoreless into the 34th minute when UC San Diego's Lucy Tang fired a shot from 25 yards out that sailed just underneath the crossbar to give the Tritons a 1-0 lead.
 
Southern Utah had a couple of chances in the first half, but UC San Diego keeper Keara Fitzgerald made a pair of saves. The Tritons had 11 shots (four on goal) over the first 45 minutes, while the Thunderbirds had four (two on frame).
 
In the second half, Southern Utah knotted the score in the 86' with a goal from Kate Schirmer which sent the match into overtime.
 
In the extra session, the Tritons earned a corner kick in the 94th minute. UC San Diego played the ball in, and Carter beat the keeper in the upper-left corner of the net, giving the Tritons their first-ever Division I victory. Michelle Baddour and Delaney Whittet were credited with assists on the game winner.

 

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The Tritons out-shot the Thunderbirds, 25-6, on the afternoon. UC San Diego had 10 corner kicks to just one for Southern Utah. Making her first regular season start for the Tritons, Fitzgerald registered two saves.

QUOTABLE
"We had a good performance today," said UC San Diego head coach Kristin Jones. "To be able to bounce back from their goal, I am proud of our response."
 
"Coming off of Sunday's disappointment, today showed lot about this team's character," Jones continued. "It would've been easy to play uninspired but we played the exact opposite."
 
TRITON TIDBITS

• Tuesday marked UC San Diego's third consecutive overtime contest. The Tritons are now 1-1-1 when playing extra time this season.
• Tang's goal was the first of her UC San Diego career and Carter scored her team-leading second.

UP NEXT
The Tritons are back on the road next weekend when UC San Diego visits San Francisco. Game time is scheduled for 1 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 5.
 
About UC San Diego Athletics
After two decades as one of the most successful programs in NCAA Division II, the UC San Diego intercollegiate athletics program began a new era in 2020 as a member of the Big West Conference in NCAA Division I. The 23-sport Tritons earned 30 team and nearly 150 individual national championships during its time in Divisions II and III and helped guide 1,400 scholar-athletes to All-America honors. A total of 83 Tritons have earned Academic All-America honors, while 38 have earned prestigious NCAA Post Graduate Scholarships. UC San Diego scholar-athletes exemplify the academic ideals of one of the world's preeminent institutions, graduating at an average rate of 91 percent, one of the highest rates among institutions at all divisions.