A UCSD header off a corner kick was the lone goal, winning the game for the Tritons
By COLINA HARVEY— sports@theaggie.org
UC Davis women’s soccer hosted University of California, San Diego (UCSD) at the Aggie Soccer Field on Oct. 9 in their fifth Big West matchup of the season. Although the Aggies were able to fend off the Tritons for most of the game, UCSD’s Talisa Lin scored the deciding goal in the 78th minute.
This was the fourth loss of a five-game losing streak in which the Aggies have also remained scoreless, unable to generate offensive opportunities. They have yet to win a conference match, with five remaining this season.
At the beginning of the match, UCSD possessed the ball more than Davis and took a few early chances to score. In the third minute, a high press by the Aggies allowed the San Diego Tritons to send a long ball over the top, resulting in their first shot. In the fifth minute, the Tritons had another shot on goal off a cross, which was saved by fourth-year political science major and goalkeeper Cat Pieper.
While the Aggies’ defense was holding strong, they struggled to possess on San Diego’s side of the field.
A run up the sideline in the 20th minute by fourth-year psychology major and defender Kylee Redman led to the Aggies’ first corner kick. The corner kick brought the ball into the box, but UCSD’s defense took care of it swiftly. San Diego then had two back-to-back corner kicks of their own, but the Aggie defense was able to protect their goal.
Midway through the first half, the Aggies started to get into scoring position more often, though the Tritons still held possession of the ball more. Davis started to create more end-to-end action, but had yet to create a threatening shot on goal.
With halftime just minutes away, San Diego managed to get a shot off from far out. Luckily for the Aggies, it missed the goal and sailed over the crossbar.
At halftime, the game remained scoreless with the Tritons recording four shots and the Aggies recording two.
Coming into the second half, San Diego maintained their momentum with a shot on goal within the first minute. They managed to create even more chances than they did in the first half, with five more shots in the first 25 minutes of the second half. However, the game still remained scoreless with 20 minutes left to play.
Back-to-back shots in the 72nd minute by second-year psychology major and forward Ava Coverdale and third-year computer science major and midfielder Viet-Thy Tran gave hope to Aggie fans, but the team was unable to convert their shots into goals.
With less than 15 minutes to go, UCSD earned a corner kick. A header off the corner by Talisa Lin met the back of the net and put the Tritons ahead. Immediately after, another UCSD shot nearly went in, but hit the crossbar.
In the 89th minute, UC Davis’ midfielder, forward and third-year human development major Courtney Wagner had a late chance to equalize with the Aggies’ lone shot on goal. Unfortunately, the shot was saved by UCSD’s goalkeeper, ending the Aggies’ chances of winning.
Although the Aggies were able to defend well and hold off UCSD for most of the game, UCSD was knocking on the door the whole time with seven shots on goal and 13 shots total.
Despite the Aggies’ recent struggles in conference play, they still have three games left to make a statement in the Big West.
Unfortunately for the Aggies, since their game against UCSD they have lost to Long Beach State University on Oct. 12 and California State University, Bakersfield on Oct. 16. Even with a goal against Bakersfield, they were unable to turn their luck around.
The Aggies are looking forward to their next match on Oct. 23 against the University of Hawai’i.
Written by: Colina Harvey — sports@theaggie.org
