LA JOLLA, Calif. – Playing in her first game at UC San Diego, redshirt freshman
Ava Tibor scored twice, but visiting Cal earned a 3-2 victory over the Tritons Thursday night at Triton Soccer Stadium in the season opener for both sides.
With the match tied at 2-2, the Golden Bears converted a penalty kick in the 72' to earn the win. The Tritons had a chance to tie in the final few seconds of the match when Tibor fired a rocket shot that hit the left post, sealing the victory for Cal.
In her Triton debut, goalkeeper
Charlotte Wilfert registered six saves.
HOW IT HAPPENED
UC San Diego wasted little time getting on the board, with Tibor scoring her first collegiate goal in the fourth minute. Grad student
Natalie Abel saved a ball in along the goal line and played it perfectly to Tibor, whose touch was true to give UC San Diego a 1-0 lead.
Cal tied the match less than three minutes later, with Coco Thistle leveling the match with her first score of the season. The Golden Bears went in front in the 25th minute as Lumi Kostmayer found the back of the net. The visitors led 2-1 at the half, holding a slim 7-4 advantage in shots.
The Tritons wasted little time in tying the match, as Tibor again played a rebound off the keeper and fired it in from the top of the box to tie the match at 2-2.
The match remained level a two apiece until a foul in the box earned Cal a penalty kick in the 72nd minute. Soleil Dimry buried the PK attempt to put the visitors in front, 3-2.
TRITON TIDBITS
- Ava Tibor scored the first two goals of her UC San Diego career.
- Tibor's two-goal performance was the sixth by a Triton in the program's Division I era.
- UC San Diego did not face a penalty kick attempt in all of 2024.
- The Golden Bears have won all four Division I meetings between these two sides.
- The Tritons wore their new navy kits with goalkeeper Charlotte Wilfert in red.
QUOTABLE
"There are obviously some things for us to improve upon, but I told them before the game that this game wasn't going to decide what kind of soccer team we were," said UC San Diego head coach
Kristin Jones '04. "I thought there was a little bit lacking in the first half, but in the second half we regrouped and we really did show that we belonged with that caliber of team. We have some things to tweak between now and next Thursday but we can absolutely build upon this."
UP NEXT
The Tritons are back in action next Thursday at home, when UC San Diego hosts Northern Arizona on Aug. 21 at 7 p.m. inside Triton Soccer Stadium. Admission is free, and the match will air live on ESPN+ with Steve Quis and Natasha Belak-Berger.
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 in NCAA Division I. The 24-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 39 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 NCAA Division I or II. For more information on the Tritons, visit UCSDtritons.com or follow UC San Diego Athletics on social media @UCSDtritons.average rate of 91 percent, one of the highest rates among institutions at all divisions.
