BAKERSFIELD, Calif. – On the road at CSU Bakersfield, UC San Diego felled the Roadrunners with a late goal to earn a 2-1 result on Saturday night.
 
The Tritons advance to 6-5-2 overall and 2-2 in the Big West while the Roadrunners move to 2-8-2 overall and 0-3-1 in the Big West.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Tritons got on the board in the 19th minute of the Saturday night match. The gold and blue earned a corner kick and drew the defense out by sending the corner up the left-field line. Nick Cirrito pushed forward with a pass to Alessandro Allen and sprinted into the box. Allen then found Andrew Valverde, who sent a low shot hard into the net with Cirrito making sure it crossed the line for a Triton goal.
 

???? GOAL??

???????????? ???????????????? from ???????????????????? ??#VamosTritones | #GoTritons ?? pic.twitter.com/kHGoaFWa5W

— UCSD Men's Soccer (@ucsdmsoc) October 9, 2022

 
UC San Diego held the 'Runners at zero for the next 63 minutes. CSU Bakersfield equalized at 1-1 on a 'Runner corner kick.
 
In the final minutes of play, Adam Walker stopped a CSUB attack to clear the ball to Asa Gibson who chipped it up the field to Valverde. Taking the ball to the goal line, Valverde sent a hard cross in to find Cirrito whose header put the ball just out of the 'Runners' reach. With less than two minutes to go, the 'Runners were unable to equalize.
 

Let's goooo!!#VamosTritones | #GoTritons ?? pic.twitter.com/T0QUEaNH1Y

— UCSD Men's Soccer (@ucsdmsoc) October 9, 2022

 
QUOTABLE
The Tritons out shot the 'Runners 13 to eight with six shots on goal to their four. Head coach Jon Pascale said, "I am so incredibly proud of our guys tonight. We dominated the possessions for most of the match and created several great scoring opportunities."
 
After a red card in the first half, the 'Runners played down a man for 53 minutes. "[CSUB] gained control of the match midway through the second half and fully deserved to equalize. We could have easily put our heads down and settled for the tie, but our team showed their resiliency and leadership once again to score a late game-winner," added Pascale.
 
TRITON TIDBITS

• Andrew Valverde recorded his third goal of the season with an assist from Alessandro Allen. Valverde now leads the team in goals (3).
• Adam Walker recorded four shots tonight with three on frame - all four came from Triton corner kicks. 
• Nick Shor recorded his first start of the season tonight for the Tritons, playing a total of 42 minutes. He recorded one save after facing three shots from the Roadrunners.
• Dylan Huy entered the match for Shor, recording his first collegiate game and save tonight, after playing 49 minutes.
• Five Tritons earned yellow cards in tonight's match.
• After tonight's win, the Tritons (2-2) move into fifth place tied with CSUN in the Big West Conference.
• This is the second time UC San Diego and CSU Bakersfield have met one another. The series moves to 1-1 after tonight.

 
UP NEXT
UC San Diego remains on the road to compete against Cal State Fullerton on Wednesday, Oct. 12. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 pm and will stream live on ESPN+ with live stats available 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.