LA JOLLA, Calif. – UC San Diego women's soccer will play a pair of Big West matches this week. The Tritons are on the road at UC Santa Barbara Thursday night before returning home to host Hawai'i on Sunday afternoon.
Thursday's match at UC Santa Barbara (7 p.m.) marks the second meeting between the two programs as Division I foes. Last season, the then-first place Gauchos earned a 2-1 victory in La Jolla thanks to a 79th minute goal off a free kick.
On Sunday UC San Diego will be back at Triton Soccer Stadium for Junior Triton Club Night Out (free admission for all) when the Tritons host the Rainbow Wahine in a Big West match at 2 p.m. – the first meeting between the teams as Division I opponents after the 2021 contest was canceled due to COVID-19 concerns.
DETAILS
Match 14
UC San Diego (1-8-4, 0-2-2 Big West) at UC Santa Barbara (2-6-5, 1-1-2 Big West)
Thursday, October 6
7 p.m.
Harder Stadium, Santa Barbara
Live Stats
Series Record: UC Santa Barbara leads, 13-0
Last Meeting: UC Santa Barbara 2, at UC San Diego 1 (Oct. 14, 2021)
Match 15
UC San Diego (1-8-4, 0-2-2 Big West) vs. Hawai'i (4-3-2, 1-1-2 Big West)
Sunday, October 9
2 p.m.
Triton Soccer Stadium, La Jolla
ESPN+ |
Live Stats
Series Record: UC San Diego leads, 2-0-0
Last Meeting: UC San Diego 2, at Hawai'i 1 (2018)
ABOUT THE TRITONS
Roster |
Schedule |
Stats
Overall: 1-8-4
Big West: 0-2-2
Home: 0-6-1
Away: 1-2-3
Neutral: 0-0
vs. Ranked Opponents: 0-1
Streak: L1
TRITONS, STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
| Stat |
UCSD |
Opp. |
| Goals |
9 |
25 |
| Goals/Game |
0.69 |
1.92 |
| Shots |
110 |
209 |
| Shots/Game |
8.5 |
16.1 |
| Shots on Goal |
48 |
100 |
| Corner Kicks |
34 |
78 |
| YC-RC-Fouls |
10-0-95 |
3-0-116 |
| PKs (Goals) |
0 (0) |
2 (2) |
ABOUT THE GAUCHOS
Roster |
Schedule |
Stats
Overall: 2-6-5
Big West: 1-1-2
Home: 1-2-3
Away: 1-4-2
Neutral: 0-0
vs. Ranked Opponents: 0-1
Streak: T1
ABOUT THE RAINBOW WAHINE
Roster |
Schedule |
Stats
Overall: 4-3-2
Big West: 1-1-2
Home: 3-1
Away: 1-2-2
Neutral: 0-0
vs. Ranked Opponents: 0-2
Streak: L1
ATTENDING THE MATCHES
Admission to UC San Diego home soccer matches is free, but parking permits are required seven days per week on campus. For UC San Diego Parking information,
click here.
GAME DAY GOES WITH YOU
Triton fans now have a whole new way to access game day information, as game programs have gone digital! Fans can visit
UCSDTritons.com/WSgameday from their smart phone or scan the QR code at the entrance to Triton Soccer Stadium for everything they need to know about each home game, including updated rosters, schedules, and stats for each team, as well as links to watch on ESPN+.
COVERING THE TRITONS
Media members wishing to cover a UC San Diego game in-person at Triton Soccer Stadium this season must notify a member of the Athletics Communication staff no later than 10 a.m. on gameday.
Following the conclusion of each home game, a video highlight melt and video postgame interviews will be made available for media members to download.
ON THE MOVE
After 20 seasons playing as an NCAA Division II team, the entire athletics program has begun a four-year transition to NCAA Division I, culminating in full DI status as a member of the
Big West Conference for the 2024-25 academic year. At that time, all sports will be eligible for conference and NCAA postseason play.
LAST TIME OUT
UC Davis got a pair of first half goals and posted a clean sheet on the way to a 3-0 victory over host UC San Diego on Youth Team Day at Triton Soccer Stadium Sunday afternoon. Genavieve Fontes scored twice for the Aggies in the victory.
The Tritons (1-8-4 overall, 0-2-2) are still in search of their first conference victory of the season. UC Davis earned its first Big West win, improving to 4-4-4 overall and 1-2-2 in conference action.
KEARA KEEPS BUSY
UC San Diego goalkeeper
Keara Fitzgerald has come up big in net for the Tritons this season. The junior leads The Big West with 74 saves and 5.69 saves per game. She made a career-high 10 stops against San Francisco (Sept. 14). Fitzgerald is the guest on this week's
Tritoncast podcast, with the episode premiering Oct. 5.
ABEL EARNS UC SAN DIEGO WEEKLY HONOR (SEPT. 19)
UC San Diego sophomore forward
Natalie Abel was named a University Credit Union Athlete of the Week on Sept. 19. She scored in three straight matches for the Tritons, including goals in both matches of the week. On Sept. 14 against San Francisco, the Texas A&M transfer scored in traffic during the 48th minute. In The Big West opener against UC Irvine on Sept. 18, Abel's strike from 10 yards out in the 15th minute helped propel the Tritons to a 1-1 draw against the defending Big West champs.
LOGGING MINUTES IN THE BACKFIELD
Through the team's first 13 matches, three Tritons have played every minute thus far in 2022. Senior defender
Katelyn Meyer, freshman back
Allie Luo and junior goalkeeper
Keara Fitzgerald have each played every minute of every match. In Meyer's case, she played all 1,589 minutes of the 2021 season as well.
CENTER BACK BRINGING ALGAE BACK
In her free time, senior defender
Katelyn Meyer volunteers for Smith Lab at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, studying red algae and exploring its possible role in reducing the impact of climate change.
Read the full feature on UCSDTritons.com.
HEAD COACH KRISTIN JONES '04
One of the most decorated players to come through the renowned UC San Diego women's soccer program, Kristin Jones is in her fourth season as the program's head coach. The former Triton standout became assistant with the program in 2004 and was elevated to associate head coach in 2015. Her career head coaching record stands at 41-24-8 (.616).
WHAT'S NEXT
UC San Diego continues Big West play on Oct. 13 when the Tritons host Long Beach State at Triton Soccer Stadium in La Jolla. Kick-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. with free admission and a live broadcast on ESPN+.
CARTER EARNS SPOT ON BIG WEST PRESEASON COACHES' TEAM
UC San Diego junior
Kennedy Carter has been named to the Big West Women's Soccer Preseason Coaches' Team. As the Tritons head into their second year in the Big West, they were picked eighth with 39 points in the coaches' poll.
In her first season as a Triton, Carter paced UC San Diego with five goals, and her three game-winners ranked third in the Big West. The transfer from Utah scored the game-winner in the Tritons' first-ever Division I victory, a 2-1 overtime triumph at Southern Utah last season.
TEAM CAPTAINS
This year's team captains are forward
Kennedy Carter and goalkeeper
Keara Fitzgerald.
DOUBLE TROUBLE
Freshmen midfielders
Caitlin Wilson and
Corinne Wilson hope to have Triton opponents seeing double on the pitch. The sisters – both bioengineering majors in Sixth College – are one of 22 sets of twins playing in Division I this season.
23 TRITONS MAKE COMMISSIONER'S HONOR ROLL
23 members of the UC San Diego women's soccer team were honored for their work in the classroom by being named to the 2021 Big West Commissioner's Honor Roll.
Marli Bannai, Mika Celeste, Lucy Granger, Kameryn Hoban, Kate Hottinger, Emily Kileen, Emily Knepler, Ashlynn Kolarik, Caitlin McCarthy, Maddy Samilo, Lizzy Teran, Delaney Whittet, and Natalie Widmer all earned Highest Honors for maintaining a cumulative GPA between 3.51 and 4.0.
Sophia Bruno,
Ava D'Arcangelo,
Raquel Kalpakoff,
Katelyn Meyer,
Christina Oddone,
Lucy Tang,
Grace Taylor, and
Grace Vlandis were all recognized With Honors for maintaining a GPA between 3.21 and 3.50.
Kennedy Carter,
Keara Fitzgerald,
Courtney Hilliard, and
Bella Sundberg each earned a spot on the Honor Roll for posting a GPA between 3.00 and 3.20.
GETTING THE CALL
Earlier this summer, former Triton standout goalkeeper
Itzel González earned a roster spot on the Mexican National Team. The 2016 UC San Diego grad has earned multiple National Team selections including in
winter 2021 and another
call up in early 2019. During her collegiate career, González competed with the Tritons from 2012-16. Starting all 22 games in her senior season, González compiled a 0.50 goals-against average and capped her career with numerous awards, including a D2CCA All-America Third Team accolade.
Professionally, González spent five seasons with the Xoloitzcuintles de Tijuana in Mexico's top Liga BBVA Feminil. This past fall, she was loaned to Sevilla in Spain's Primera Division before returning to Liga BBVA Feminil, this time as a member of Club América based in Ciudad de México.
TRITON SOCCER STADIUM GETS A NEW SURFACE
In preparation for the 2022 soccer season
Triton Soccer Stadium has been refreshed with a brand-new carpet of grass, the field's first sod replacement in over 20 years.
The new sod is Tahoma Bermudagrass, a type of highly drought-resistant grass ideal for soccer fields. As part of the sod replacement process, Triton Soccer Stadium's field was also laser leveled to ensure an even playing surface.
The re-surfaced area encompasses the northern end of the RIMAC Fields, which not only includes Triton Soccer Stadium in the northwest corner but also space for a second full soccer field in the northeast corner. In total, 208,500 square feet of sod were replaced over the course of the four-week long project.
MEYER AND FITZGERALD EARN BIG WEST HONORS
Back
Katelyn Meyer was named All-Big West Honorable mention while goalkeeper
Keara Fitzgerald was named to the All-Freshman Team following the 2021 season.
A native of Campbell, Meyer started all 17 matches for the Tritons in 2021. She was one of two UC San Diego players (along with captain
Delaney Whittet) to play all 1589 minutes of the season. She recorded her first career assist on the game-winning goal vs. CSUN on Oct. 3.
After missing the team's first three matches due to injury, Fitzgerald played the entirety of the remaining UC San Diego schedule in net – nearly 1300 minutes in total. The Ventura native compiled a 5-8-1 record with a .713 save percentage and a 1.74 goals against average. Fitzgerald posted a clean sheet in the program's first ever Big West win – a one-nil triumph at UC Irvine on Sept. 26.
GOING OUT ON TOP
UC San Diego ended its Division II era by capturing its fifth straight CCAA conference tournament title in 2019.
MUIR MANIA
There's something about John Muir College that suits this program. 11 of the 26 scholar-athletes on the women's soccer roster are enrolled in Muir. Seven members of the program attend Sixth College, five are in Eleanor Roosevelt, three in Thurgood Marshall, and goalkeeper
Keara Fitzgerald is enrolled in Seventh College. For more on UC San Diego's unique college system,
click here.
IT'S OVER FOR OT
In the spring, the NCAA announced that regular season matches would no longer be decided in overtime. The golden goal format has gone by the wayside and matches that are level after 90 minutes will be declared a tie.
UC SAN DIEGO ON THE WORLDWIDE LEADER
Most UC San Diego home men's and women's basketball games, men's and women's soccer matches, men's and women's volleyball matches, baseball and softball games are broadcast live on ESPN+. For more information on where to watch UC San Diego soccer, visit
UCSDTritons.com/live.
WHY THE TRITONS?
The Triton is described as the offspring of Poseidon and Amphitrite, a demigod of the sea with a lower part of the body like that of a fish. It is known as a mighty and fierce sea warrior. Given UC San Diego's close proximity to the Pacific Ocean and its connections with the world-famous Scripps Institution of Oceanography, the Triton became our mascot in 1964.
UC SAN DIEGO ATHLETICS LAUNCHES WEEKLY PODCAST
As part of UC San Diego's transition to Division I, the Athletics Department launched a weekly podcast,
Tritoncast. Produced by UC San Diego Athletics Communications, Tritoncast features in-depth interviews with UC San Diego personalities including scholar-athletes, alums, coaches, and administrators. Triton fans will get an inside look at the UC San Diego Athletics Department as the program transitions to NCAA Division I and the Big West Conference. New episodes of Tritoncast are available each week on the most popular podcasting apps. In addition, each episode can be heard and downloaded on UCSDTritons.com. For individual show information and listen links, follow Tritoncast on Twitter
@Tritoncast.
WOMEN'S SOCCER ON TRITONCAST
GET SOCIAL WITH UC SAN DIEGO SOCCER
Keep up with the Tritons all season long on social media through
Twitter,
Facebook, and
Instagram. The team's handle is @ucsdwsoc.
FOR THE YOUNGER CROWD
Got some young Triton fans in your family? If they are eighth grade or under, check out the
Junior Triton Club. Membership includes a free t-shirt, admission to over 100 UC San Diego home athletic events, and much more!
GEAR
For the latest Triton apparel and accessories,
click here.
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.
