LA JOLLA, Calif.—UC San Diego women's soccer dropped its first contest of the season, falling 2-0 at Oregon State. With the loss, the Tritons move to 1-1-1 in the early season.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
Oregon State (2-0) put early pressure on the Tritons, but UC San Diego's defense held strong in the opening minutes of the contest. Keara Fitzgerald recorded two impressive saves—and almost had a third but it was preempted by an offside call—in a span of two minutes. 
 
Fitzgerald's first save came in the ninth minute when she made a diving stop in the left corner of the net. Two minutes later, Fitzgerald impressed again when the Beavers' corner kick was headed hard to the center of the net but punched out by Fitzgerald and cleared by the Tritons.
 
Courtney Hilliard posed the best threat for the Tritons in the first half, with back-to-back shots in the 15th minute. Hilliard's first shot was blocked from the top of the box and after the rebound was passed back to her, she sent a high ball to the far corner but it fell just outside the left post.
 
UC San Diego held OSU scoreless for most of the first half before the Beavers broke through in the 44th minute to take a 1-0 lead at the break.
 
In the second half, the Tritons rallied to put pressure on Oregon State in the 67th minute but were unable to come up with the equalizer. The Beavers struck again shortly after in the 70th minute with a shot inside the box to make it 2-0.
 
UC San Diego had another opportunity in the 79th minute after the Triton defense made a good stop at the top of the box and Audrey Reed had a break away run to the other end. Reed's shot was bumped by an OSU defender and scooped up by the Beavers' keeper to hold the Tritons off the board.
 
The Tritons continued to put pressure on Oregon State late in the contest with four shots in the final six minutes but UC San Diego was ultimately unable to break through. 

QUOTABLE
"We are disappointed with the result but not the performance," commented head coach Kristin Jones. "We competed with our PAC 12 opponent in every line on the stat sheet and a few errors proved costly. Moving forward, this is the type of game that will continue to prepare us in the right way and our staff is seeing the right signs from our team. Nothing to be discouraged by today, and we look forward to our preparations for our games on the east coast."
 
TRITON TIDBITS

• Shots were 15-13 in favor of Oregon State, with four on goal for the Tritons and six for the Beavers.
• Four Tritons recorded a shot on goal including Andrea Guillen, Alexis Nguyen, Lindsey Park and Audrey Reed.
• The teams were even in saves (4-4) and corner kicks (6-6).

UP NEXT
The Tritons will continue a stretch of three consecutive road contests, traveling next week to face Rhode Island on Aug. 31 at 4 p.m. PT. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ with live statistics available via 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 has begun a new era 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 84 Tritons have earned Academic All-America honors, while 38 have garnered 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 90 percent, the highest rate among public institutions in Division I or II. For more information on the Tritons, visit UCSDtritons.com or follow UC San Diego Athletics on social media @UCSDtritons.