LONG BEACH, Calif. – Triton sophomore defender
Talisa Lin scored off a corner kick in the 81st minute, but Long Beach State hung on for a 2-1 victory Sunday night in women's soccer action at George Allen Field. Following their penultimate Big West road match, the Tritons are 3-8-4 on the season (2-3-2 Big West). UC San Diego currently sits seventh in the conference standings with eight points.
Long Beach State's Cherrie Cox scored a pair of goals as the host Beach improved to 8-5-3 (3-2-2 Big West) with Sunday's victory.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Fresh off a Thursday night bye, Long Beach State jumped in front early, picking up a goal in the eighth minute from Cherrie Cox while the Tritons played a man down due to injury. The Beach added a second score from Cox, the conference's leading goal scorer, in the 28th minute to build a 2-0 advantage.
The home team held a 7-1 shot advantage over the first 45 minutes of play.
In the second half, the Tritons defense held strong as the attack got organized. UC San Diego earned a corner – its first of the match – in the 80th minute. Junior
Courtney Hilliard subbed on and served a beautiful ball into the box. Hilliard's service was deflected by junior
Raquel Kalpakoff and Lin was there, connecting on a header to get UC San Diego on the board with just under nine minutes to play.
TRITON TIDBITS
- The goal by Talisa Lin was her second of the season and the second in her UC San Diego career.
- Grad student Emily Killeen checked into the match in the 44th minute – her first action of the season. Prior to Sunday, Killeen had played only 25 total minutes since 2019 due to injury.
- The Tritons remained winless against Long Beach State in Big West play, falling to 0-3.
- Long Beach State earned six corner kicks to the one for the Tritons.
- UC San Diego goalkeeper Keara Fitzgerald entered the match leading The Big West with 5.71 saves per game. She made four stops on Sunday.
- The Tritons wore their blue kits Sunday night with Fitzgerald in red.
QUOTABLE
"Credit to Long Beach for pouncing on us for that early goal," said UC San Diego head coach
Kristin Jones '04. "We were organized but just didn't get wide enough there. I thought we held our own for most of the night, and it was great to see us successfully execute on that late corner."
UP NEXT
UC San Diego returns to La Jolla for a Big West match vs. CSUN on Thursday at Triton Soccer Stadium. The match kicks at 7 and it will air live on ESPN+ and KSDT Radio with live stats on UCSDTritons.com. Admission to UC San Diego home matches is free.
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 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 84 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.
