UC San Diego

LA JOLLA, Calif. — UC San Diego won a high-scoring nonconference men's soccer match 4-2 over Cal State Bakersfield on Saturday night at Triton Soccer Stadium.
 
Gavin Allegaert, Masayuki Fujita and Ryan Namdar scored for the Tritons (7-5-2, 1-1-2 Pac-12). Namdar had a brace.
 
Bakersfield moved to 4-3-6 (0-0-4 Big West).
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Tritons scored just 93 seconds into the match. Their press forced a deep turnover, with Jack Nishimoto cutting out a pass and finding Oren Stuppel. The ball was then played over to Allegaert, who took a touch before firing home a shot from the top of the box.
 
Bakersfield wasted no time in equalizing, bringing the score level in the 11th minute. A recycled corner kick was passed to an open player several yards outside of the 18, who took a long-range shot that flew past everyone and into the top left corner of the net.
 
The best look the Tritons had at retaking the lead before halftime came in the 43rd minute. A long dribbling run from Sean McTague resulted in an opportunity for Tyler Cash just outside the 18, but his shot narrowly missed being on frame.
 
The Tritons also scored early in the second half as Fujita found the back of the net in the 48th minute. A long ball from goalkeeper Nic Thiele was flicked on by Allegaert directly into the path of Fujita, who took a strong touch toward goal. A Roadrunner defender was able to step in front of the play, but the attempted clearance went right back into Fujita, who capitalized on the mistake to put the Tritons in front.
 
Nishimoto nearly put UC San Diego up 3-1 in the 57th minute after the Triton press forced another turnover, but his shot just barely sailed high. Allegaert had a golden look as well in the 75th with a shot that hit the crossbar after a through ball from Nishimoto.
 
Bakersfield then took advantage of the Tritons' missed opportunities, scoring just seconds later in the 76th minute. An initial shot was saved by Thiele, but Bakersfield was first to the rebound. One pass was all it took to find enough space for the equalizer.
 
The 2-2 score would not last long, however, as the Tritons scored again less than a minute later. Namdar held the ball up deep before playing over to Adam Dunbar on the right wing. He dribbled down and made a defender miss, with his ensuing cross making its way back to Namdar. The striker had made a run all the way to the six-yard box to head home the game-winning goal.
 
Namdar then put the match away in the 87th minute. Thiele sent a restart long, with the ball bouncing all the way to Tyler Cash near Bakersfield's box. His shot was blocked, but Namdar pounced on the rebound to make it 4-2.
 
TRITON TIDBITS

• Namdar now has three braces on the season.
• The Tritons are up to 24 goals this year, which is tied with the 2023 team for the most in UC San Diego's Division I era.
• The 2016 UC San Diego men's soccer team was honored at halftime. That squad won the program's only conference championships and reached the Division II national semifinals.

QUOTABLE
"We scored four goals, which is great, but I also thought the defensive effort, especially what the front players put in, was excellent," head coach Jon Pascale said. "The game had a bunch of ebbs and flows in it. Giving up a second goal against the run of play was a tough pill to swallow, but the guys have done this before. They are a very resilient group. They can take a punch and keep on going, and we saw that again tonight."
 
UP NEXT
The Tritons have one final nonconference match next Wednesday, Oct. 21, at CSUN. The match begins at 7:00 p.m. and will be broadcast on ESPN+.
 
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.