COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Wrapping their road trip in Colorado, UC San Diego's men's soccer earns their season-first victory over the US Air Force Academy Falcons in a rainy Sunday afternoon matchup with a 2-0 result.
The Tritons move to 1-4-1 while the Falcons drop to 0-6-0.
HOW IT HAPPENED
After an hour weather delay, the two teams took the pitch to compete in the rain. The Falcons outshot the gold and blue in the first half with seven to two.
Nick Shor made two significant saves to keep Air Force scoreless. On a bad clear,
Alessandro Allen was able to take a shot from the top of the 18-yard box with his left. The shot was deflected by the Air Force defense, sending it wide and earning the Tritons a corner kick.
The rain began to fall heavily during halftime and continued into the second 45. In the 58th minute,
Andrew Valverde stole the ball as it was crossing the field to send it ahead to
Max Carvalho, who drew the Falcons' keeper all the way out of the box with a feint. Carvalho feinted the shot to come back to the right to lace a shot through the defenders and recovering keeper.
Shortly after the Triton goal, lightning was spotted in the area forcing another weather delay.
After the delay,
Jack Hagan came in firing with a shot out in the top in the 72nd minute. Then in the 76th minute Hagan was able to find
Iñaki Iribarren who buried the ball in the back of the net to go up 2-0.
In the second half, the Tritons edged the Falcons with six shots to their five, and the Tritons earned six corner kicks with four coming in the second half while USAFA earned a game-total of two.
QUOTABLE
"It was an incredible effort by the team," said head coach
Jon Pascale. "To win on the road is never easy, especially at 7,000 feet of elevation. The game threw all kinds of challenges at us, in addition to a good opponent. We stayed focused through a steady rain pour and two weather delays. I am really proud of the way the team grinded out the win."
TRITON TIDBITS
- Max Carvalho scored his first goal of the season in the 58th minute of the game.
- On an assist from Jack Hagan, Iñaki Iribarren scored his second goal of the season in the 76th minute.
- This was Nick Shor's first start in goal for the 2023 season.
- Lightning caused an hour delay to the start of the match and in the second half with 21:12 left another delay was issued.
- This was the Tritons first win of the season.
- After playing SJSU this is the second Western Athletic Conference school the Tritons have played this season.
- This is the first times the two teams have met.
UP NEXT
The Tritons remain on the road and head to northern California to face Santa Clara University on Sep. 14 with kickoff slated for 7:30 p.m. The match will be live on ESPN+ with live stats 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 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.
