BAKERSFIELD, Calif. – Down a pair of goals in the second half, UC San Diego battled back to earn a 2-2 draw on the road at CSU Bakersfield on Main Soccer Field Thursday night. Sophomore
Courtney Hilliard and junior
Kennedy Carter scored for the Tritons, who improved to 2-9-6 overall and 1-3-4 in Big West action.
The 'Runners are now 4-7-6 overall on the season and 2-2-5 in Big West play.
HOW IT HAPPENED
UC San Diego goalkeeper
Keara Fitzgerald had a strong start, making five first half saves for the second consecutive match as the 'Runners ripped 13 first half shots.
UC San Diego committed a foul deep creating a dangerous set piece for CSU Bakersfield. The Roadrunners served it in past the Tritons' wall, but Fitzgerald made a strong save to keep the match scoreless.
The 'Runners broke through in the 41st minute when Kaylee Covert served it into the box towards Rhyan Acosta who made a strong run and deflected the ball into the goal.
In the 52nd minute, CSU Bakersfield added to its lead with a perfectly threaded ball from Covert from 20 yards out, finding the back of the net just beyond Fitzgerald's leaping arms. Forty seconds later, the 'Runners appeared to add to their lead but a would-be goal was called off due to the offsides flag being up.
UC San Diego got on the board late in the 57th minute. Triton freshmen defenders
Talisa Lin and
Allie Luo fed sophomore
Courtney Hilliard. She raced into the box and fired the ball into the back of the net for her first career goal.
The Tritons pushed forward looking for the equalizer. UC San Diego earned a couple of corner kicks and
Natalie Abel had a great look from 10 yards out, but her shot was saved in the 80th minute.
Still looking for the equalizer in the 87th minute, Luo fed
Kennedy Carter and she flicked it into the back of the net to level the score at 2-2.
Bakersfield had a 22-15 advantage in shots. UC San Diego's Fitzgerald finished with nine saves.
QUOTABLE
"It was clear coming into tonight that we still had a bad taste in our mouth from last week. We saw a different level of leadership tonight and commitment to gain control of the game again and get momentum back, even when we went down by two," said UC San Diego head coach
Kristin Jones '04. "Courtney's goal was really nice, and Kennedy did a great job of finishing in traffic. Camryn [Borg] really controlled center midfield and played well for us tonight."
TRITON TIDBITS
- Center back Katelyn Meyer once again played all 90 minutes, remaining second nationally with 3,119 consecutive minutes played.
- Luo has four assists this season, tops on the Tritons. Lin is second with three helpers.
- Carter's goal was her third of the season.
- The Tritons have now earned one or more points in six of their eight road matches in 2022.
- UC San Diego wore its white kits Thursday night in Bakersfield.
UP NEXT
The Tritons return to the pitch Sunday afternoon as they visit CSUN for a 3 p.m. contest, UC San Diego's final road match of the season. The match will be broadcast on ESPN+ with live stats on UCSDTritons.com.
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.
