UC San Diego Masterclass Earns Tritons Trip to Pittsburgh
Originally posted on ucsdtritons.com
CANYON, Texas - The No. 6 University of California San Diego women's soccer team sprinted out to a 3-0 lead over the first half of the opening period, and in a tour-de-force performance, demolished host West Texas A&M University, 5-0, in a 2018 NCAA Division II Championship national quarterfinal match at The Pitch on Sunday.
Repeat West Region champion UC San Diego improved to 19-2-2 overall. South Central Region victor West Texas A&M ended its season at 15-4-3. It was the first all-time meeting between the sides.
UC San Diego advances to the national semifinals to take on No. 17 University of Bridgeport (18-4-1) of Bridgeport, Conn. The NCAA Division II reseeds teams after the quarterfinal round these days, and the final version of the bracket was released late Sunday. The second-seeded Tritons will face No. 3 seed Bridgeport at 2 p.m. PT (5 p.m. ET) at Highmark Stadium in Pittsburgh, Pa., on Thursday, Nov. 29, after the Thanksgiving holiday. They are expected to travel on Monday, Nov. 26. Top-ranked and top-seeded Grand Valley State (MI) will then take on No. 4 seed Lee University (TN) at 5 p.m. PT (8 p.m. ET). The winners will square off in the national championship game on Saturday, Dec. 1, at 12 p.m. PT (3 p.m. ET). All three contests can be watched, free of charge, on
NCAA.com.
Both UC San Diego and West Texas A&M were coming off marathon regional finals Friday night that went 110 minutes before being settled through penalty-kick tiebreakers. Having survived another tense affair with formidable rival Western Washington, the Tritons came out Sunday focused and poised, with a calm confidence and palpable excitement. Speed, skill and strength. They had it all.
And it was over early. A true masterclass by coaches Kristin Jones, Greg LaPorte and Trent Painter, and their student-athletes.
UC San Diego jumped all over the Lady Buffs straight out of the gate, and was up 3-0 by the midway point of the first half. The Tritons' three first-half goals came within a span of just 12:14.
Striker Megumi Barber (San Diego/Mt. Carmel HS) got things going at the 10:02 mark. The attack came down the left flank, with sophomore left back Delaney Whittet passing forward to senior left winger Summer Bales. Bales provided the left-footed cross toward the edge of the six-yard box, and her fellow fourth-year Triton, Barber, beat her defender to the near post and flicked her shot into the back of the net for her ninth. Bales' assist was her league- and career-best 10th.
At 17:41, it was 2-0. Sophomore Michelle Baddour (San Diego/University City HS) took a great right-footed shot from 25 yards on the right side, which senior Lady Buff goalie Courtney Dippel barely was able to tip over the crossbar with her right hand. Barber took the ensuing corner kick, with Dippel appearing to be the one who punched the ball out. It fell to Bales, who fired off the bar and in for her second goal of her final campaign, which went down as unassisted.
Within five more minutes, at 22:16, the lead extended to 3-0, with Barber completing her second collegiate two-goal brace, both coming in this postseason. Strike partner and fellow fourth-year senior Mary Reilly (Chula Vista/Hilltop HS) received the ball with her back to goal around the center circle. The local product made an exquisite turn, and fed forward with her right foot, perfectly into the path of Barber. She took one touch ahead, and from the left diagonal right around the edge of the penalty area, shot left-footed into the bottom right corner. With the tally, she joined Reilly in double figures in goals for 2018, now with a career-high 10, with Reilly's assist her third of the year.
UC San Diego missed several other golden opportunities for an even bigger score line, so at the half, there was still some minor doubt as to the result of this one.
That doubt was no more just 117 seconds after the second-half whistle. Natalie Saddic (San Diego/Torrey Pines HS) dribbled straight through the heart of the WTAMU defense before laying off a picture-perfect pass for Reilly to run onto before placing her shot into the bottom left corner for her West Region-leading 16th. Saddic's assist was her career-best fifth.
In the 54th minute, Barber wrapped up her hat trick, the trip to Pittsburgh, and the scoring for the afternoon. Sophomore Maddy Samilo (Rancho Bernardo/Rancho Bernardo HS) threw the ball in to Reilly on the right sideline, and Reilly crossed from the end line, with Barber getting her head to it for her 11th, and 5-0.
Redshirt junior UC San Diego goalkeeper Angelica Ramos had four saves for her 10th individual shutout of 2018 and 22nd of her Triton career. Dippel had nine stops for the Lady Buffs.
UC San Diego finished with a commanding 25-7 advantage in shots, and 9-2 in corner kicks. Fourteen of those shots were on target.
Barber completed her hat trick in just 36 minutes of action, coming out for good upon scoring that third goal at 53:46. It's the second hat trick by a Triton in 2018, with Reilly having hit for four at home against Cal State Monterey Bay on Sept. 14.