Come-from-Behind Win Sends UC San Diego Back to West Region Final
| No. 1 UC San Diego 3, No. 4 Point Loma 2 |
Recap excerpt courtesy UC San Diego Athletics
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NCAA Division II Women’s Soccer Interactive Bracket
LA JOLLA, Calif. - They weren't ready for it to be over. They simply were not.
Down 2-0 in the 35th minute to a team that had surrendered just five goals all year, the sixth-ranked UC San Diego women's soccer team dug deep to keep the season alive for its five seniors, as the Tritons turned back upstart city rival Point Loma, 3-2, in a second-round match of the 2018 NCAA Division II Championship. The game was played in front of a raucous crowd of 451 on a spectacular November Saturday at Triton Soccer Stadium, with both sides receiving deserved ovations following the final whistle.
Top-seeded CCAA regular-season and tournament champion UC San Diego improved to 18-2-1 overall with the victory, and finished a perfect 11-0 at home. Point Loma, the West’s No. 4 seed, ended its incredible campaign at 16-2-1 as the PacWest champion. The Sea Lions had rattled off a remarkable 17-game unbeaten streak (16-0-1) after a season-opening home defeat in double overtime to Western Washington, 2-1, back on Aug. 30, and gave up multiple goals for just the first time since.
After an even first half-hour, Point Loma stunned the home team and its fans with back-to-back tallies within just 114 seconds of each other. At 32:11, junior forward Abbey Teagle took a pass from Bella Diaz and sent what initially may have looked like a right-sided cross. From just outside the penalty area on the right diagonal, however, her kick lofted over senior Triton goalkeeper Angelica Ramos and found the left netting for her third goal of 2018. Diaz picked up the assist.
Moments later at 34:05, Ashlee Smith's header made it 2-0. Abbi Swanson played Diaz down the right flank, and Smith got on the end of her cross for her third tally of the year. Ramos actually got a fingertip to it, and the ball then even contacted the inside of the right post, before advancing over the goal line.
PacWest Player and Newcomer of the Year Julia Glaser nearly put the whole thing to bed before UC San Diego could begin to mount its fightback, but her right-footed shot from the top of the box after a two-on-one with Teagle, was parried away by Ramos in the 39th minute to keep the Tritons alive.
In the 40th minute, just about 36 seconds after the Glaser miss, true freshman winger Ashlynn Kolarik crossed from the left for sophomore forward Mia Bonifazi. The native of Highlands Ranch, Colo., got to the ball just in front of freshman goalie Emma Hinson to nudge it by her with her first touch. At a narrow angle on the left diagonal, she then pulled the ball back into space to free her from the reach of a Sea Lion defender who was on the ground in front of her, and calmly lifted her right-footed shot into the empty net to pull her side up from the doldrums, and within a single goal at 2-1. It was Bonifazi's third of the year, all of them big, with the first two game deciders. Kolarik was credited with her second assist.
Following a rousing halftime talk by coach Kristin Jones and the Triton staff, UC San Diego refused to lose in the second period.
The Tritons pulled even at 57:19. Fourth-year senior striker Megumi Barber earned a free kick just outside the 18-yard box, slightly toward the left side. She eventually got behind the ball, and made absolutely no mistake with her right-footed effort from 20 yards, giving Hinson no chance to her left side, and the rookie goalie's right. It was Barber's career-best eighth, most of them of the banger-from-distance variety, and third in three postseason contests.
At exactly 79:00, came what proved to be the winner, with a bit of fortune. Sophomore central midfielder Caitlin McCarthy tried to play ahead, but her pass was deflected right back to her. The local product then hit a hopeful left-footer from about 20 yards as well around the left diagonal. The shot at the outset did not appear to be troubling for Hinson, but unfortunately for the PacWest Goalkeeper and Freshman of the Year, the ball slipped underneath her grasp and into the bottom right corner of the net. It was as good a time as any for a first goal of the season for McCarthy, who is third on the squad with 48 shots.
UC San Diego moves on to a third consecutive West Region final against the same opponent, rival Western Washington. The Vikings won 2-1 in overtime in Golden, Colo., in 2016 en route to its first national title. The Tritons returned the favor at home last Nov. 17, 2-0. The rubber match will take place at a site still yet to be determined, next week, likely on Friday, Nov. 16. The top seed remaining in the South Central Region, takes its turn to host this year, so it could be Colorado School of Mines, West Texas A&M, or University of Colorado Colorado Springs, pending Sunday's results in that region.
On Saturday, third-seeded Western Washington also rallied from 2-0 down to win 3-2, at second-seeded host and GNAC rival Concordia (Ore.) in Portland, scoring twice over the final five minutes of regulation, prior to nabbing a winner at 97:19 of overtime. The Tritons and Vikings have already met once this season, with UC San Diego earning a 1-0 triumph in its home opener back on Sept. 1 thanks to an 85th-minute Maddy Samilo goal.