LA JOLLA, Calif. – UC San Diego junior goalkeeper
Keara Fitzgerald made a career-high 10 saves, but it wasn't enough as visiting San Francisco topped the Tritons, 4-1, at Triton Soccer Stadium Wednesday night.
Sophomore forward
Natalie Abel scored for the second straight match for UC San Diego (1-6-1). The Dons (4-1-3) remained unbeaten on the road this season and are now 3-0-1 away from The Hilltop.
HOW IT HAPPENED
UC San Diego's back line was challenged from the opening kick-off, with Fitzgerald making three early saves. In the 17th minute, San Francisco broke through and got a clean look at the net before UC San Diego midfielder
Kate Hottinger raced in and cleared the ball out over the sideline to prevent a Dons goal.
The Dons broke through in the 19th minute with a score from Marissa Vasquez with a right-footed shot from point-blank range. Lindsey Chau added a score six minutes later to put the visitors on top, two-nil.
Fitzgerald kept UC San Diego in the match, making eight first half saves – matching her career high by halftime. The Dons out-shot the Tritons, 16-3, in the first half.
The Tritons got on the board quickly in the second half, as Abel worked her way through a pile of black jerseys and fired a shot into the left corner of the goal, cutting the deficit to 2-1.
In the 54th minute, the Dons got the goal back when Allison Kamansky scored on a well-defended shot into the upper-right corner of the net, giving San Francisco a 3-1 lead. USF wrapped up the scoring with a goal in the 84th minute.
The Dons held a 22-4 shots advantage, with 15 on frame. San Francisco earned seven corner kicks in the win.
QUOTABLE
"I thought the effort was better [than Sunday] against a really tough opponent," said UC San Diego head coach
Kristin Jones '04. "We played with tenacity tonight, we tackled a bit harder, and overall played tougher – and this game needed that, especially with how good USF is. I'm proud of their response in terms of their commitment to the game after Sunday."
"We need to spin this schedule into a positive," Jones added. "The level of competition we've played has set us up to compete in The Big West."
TRITON TIDBITS
- Abel's goal was her second in as many matches and the fourth of her career. She scored twice last season as a freshman at Texas A&M.
- Fitzgerald's 10 saves are a UC San Diego single-match record in the program's Division I era.
- The temperature was 68 degrees with light winds at game time.
- The Tritons wore blue for the fifth time this season, with GK Keara Fitzgerald in red.
UP NEXT
The Tritons begin Big West play on Sunday when they host defending conference champion UC Irvine at 2 p.m. Admission is free, and the match will kick of Triton Weeks of Welcome as students return to campus for fall quarter. The contest will also air live on ESPN+ with Steve Quis and Natasha Belak-Berger calling the action.
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.
