SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. – Breaking through late on
Alexis Nguyen's first career collegiate goal, the UC San Diego Tritons women's soccer team (5-8-5, 4-3-3 Big West)Â earned an impressive 1-0 road victory over the Cal Poly Mustangs (8-7-3, 6-3-1 Big West) on Thursday night from Mustang Memorial Field.
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Goalkeeper
Keara Fitzgerald put together a tremendous night in the cage for the Tritons as she recorded eight saves in less than 70 minutes of action.
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HOW IT HAPPENED
Following a scoreless tie on Sunday to wrap up their home schedule, the Tritons were ready to end the season on a high note against a quality opponent seeking a first place finish in the Big West.
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UC San Diego's offense was ready to go from the opening kick as
Camryn Borg wasted little time to deliver the Tritons' first shot of the game just seven minutes into the contest.
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The Tritons' keeper
Keara Fitzgerald came up huge for her team in the first half as she recorded five saves while facing eight shots to keep the Mustangs' off the board on their home pitch.
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Fitzgerald continued her tremendous game by recording a pair of diving saves back-to-back before having to depart the game with an injury.
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Senior defender
Mackenzie May filled in following the injury playing her first minutes in goal of the season as she recorded two saves and helped preserve the clean sheet.
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As the game remained scoreless late into the contest, Nguyen knew it was time to come through for her team as she fired a shot past Cal Poly's keeper into the back of the net to put the Tritons ahead for good with less than two minutes left in the game.
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The Tritons' defense was able to hold down the potent Mustangs the rest of the way as they picked up their fourth conference win to secure a winning mark in Big West play.
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TRITON TIDBITS
- Nguyen's goal capped off a tremendous debut season at UC San Diego, as she started in all 17 of her team's games and registered five points with a goal and three assists to begin her collegiate career.
- Fitzgerald wrapped up her senior season by recording eight saves on Thursday night. She led The Big West in saves (97) and saves per game (5.39) in 2023.
- With the victory tonight, the Tritons finish the regular season in fifth place in The Big West standings. However, conference policy precludes UC San Diego from participating in The Big West championship during the Tritons' transition to NCAA Division I.
- Cal Poly entered Thursday's match in sole possession of first place in The Big West.
- Competing in goal for the first time in her collegiate career, May had previous experience playing goal keeper as recently as her junior year of high school in 2018.Â
QUOTABLE
"The team's goal this season was to finish in [Big West] playoff contention and what we talked about before this game was that we can't simulate this kind of situation in practice, and when the pressure's on, we had to be in a position to take advantage of the hard work we put in," said UC San Diego head coach
Kristin Jones '04. "This is a program-changing win; to have that kind of performance with the commitment and desire to win is something that will propel us forward. I'm just so proud of this group and the way we finished our season."
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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.
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