STOCKTON, Calif. – On Thursday night, the Tritons opened the 2022 season on the road with a 3-1 victory over the Pacific Tigers.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
In the first half, UC San Diego's Alessandro Allen record the team's lone shot for the entire half while the Tigers fired five shots with three on goal. The Tigers were able to draw a penalty kick and capitalized to make the score 1-0.
 
The Tritons came out firing in the second half with seven shots total and six on target. Jack Hagan found the back of the net with an assist from Allen and Andrew Valverde to tie it up. UC San Diego continued to push, allowing Nick Cirrito to score another for the Tritons in the 57th minute with an assist from Allen.
 
Continuing the attack, Mason Haubrich pressured the Tigers' goalie with two hard shots on goal within minutes of each other. As time was running out, Cirrito cashed in another Triton goal in the 88th minute to lift the Tritons to a final score of 3-1 over Pacific.
 
QUOTABLE
After an unbalanced first half with Pacific challenging in multiple ways, head coach Jon Pascale challenged his team to come out differently in the second.

"We made some adjustments and asked the team to give more of themselves," he said, "and they responded with a great performance and an incredible work ethic."
 
"The maturity we saw from our squad in the second half proves how strong our bench is, and we are looking forward to taking on another quality opponent in Santa Clara," he added. 
 
TRITON TIDBITS

• The Tritons recorded eight shots in tonight's game with six shots on goal.
• Jack Hagan's goal at 48:38 tied the game up at 1-1.
• Nick Cirrito scored a career high two goals in a single game with the first coming at 57:17 and the second at 88:42.
• Alessandro Allen recorded two assists with Andrew Valverde recording his first Triton assist.
• The three Triton goals recorded tonight mark the most goals scored on the road since Oct. 2017 - a 3-2 OT win vs. Cal State San Marcos.
• Tonight's matchup was the first time the Tritons and the Tigers have faced one another.

 
UP NEXT
UC San Diego continues north to play No. 22 Santa Clara on Sunday, Aug. 28 at 7:30 pm. Live stats will be 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.