LA JOLLA, Calif. - UC San Diego found two goals in quick succession early in the second half and held on to secure a home playoff match with a 2-0 defeat of rival Cal State Dominguez Hills in California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) men’s soccer action on Senior Night Thursday at Triton Soccer Stadium.

With the victory, UCSD improved to 10-4-4 overall and completed the 11-game CCAA slate at 5-2-4. The Tritons have reached the 10-win mark four times now in head coach Jon Pascale’s seven seasons in charge. Cal State Dominguez Hills dropped to an even 8-8-2 overall and 6-4-1 in league play.

Both teams began the day having already clinched berths into the six-team 2014 CCAA Championship, with the visiting Toros in fact also having guaranteed themselves a first-round game at home. The win vaulted the Tritons into a third-place tie with CSUDH at 19 points apiece, but gave them the head-to-head tiebreaker, thus netting UCSD the No. 3 seed over the Toros, as well as its own first-round match-up at home.

UCSD will host sixth-seeded Cal State Stanislaus in the CCAA tourney’s first round this Sunday, Nov. 2. Kickoff at Triton Soccer Stadium is set for 12 p.m. The Tritons will be making their second successive CCAA Championship appearance and seventh overall.

Fourth-seeded Cal State Dominguez Hills will welcome No. 5 seed Cal State San Bernardino to Carson on Sunday for a 1 p.m. clash. Top seed Cal Poly Pomona and No. 2 Cal State L.A. earn byes directly into the semifinal round in Turlock next week.

On Thursday, the game remained scoreless until the 51:16 mark. Sophomore striker Malek Bashti put a ball out on the right wing for freshman teammate Eric Young, who fed it back into the middle, where Bashti struck a first-time right-footed shot into the upper right corner on the near side for his third goal of 2014. It was Young’s first collegiate assist.

Just 3:35 later, the Tritons won a free kick from just outside the penalty box, a little to the left of center. With two UCSD players hovering, freshman midfielder Charlie Keating ran over the ball, leaving it for Brandon Bauman. On Senior Night, the senior captain calmly provided the insurance score for his team-best fifth on the year, as he whipped his right-footed shot over the wall and into the back of the net to the left side beyond the reach of a diving Chase Gentry.

Junior Cameron McElfresh made a pair of saves in posting his eighth shutout of the season in goal for the Tritons. Gentry also finished with two stops.

Both sides were playing short-handed, with no fewer than five Tritons unavailable due to various injuries, and at least three Toros out of action due to red or yellow cards picked up in their previous match last Sunday.

Bauman, A.J. Beloff, Alessandro Canale, Matthew McClure, Nick Roberts and Jacob Valadez were recognized prior to kickoff on Senior Night. All of them started except for Canale, who sustained a season-ending injury earlier this month.

Valadez came close to opening the scoring with UCSD’s first shot of the evening in the 15th minute, taking a left-sided cross from freshman winger Zachary Lagotta (San Diego/Cathedral Catholic HS) and hitting a hard, right-footed shot on the ground from around 10 yards that Gentry had to dive to his left to parry away.

With just over five minutes left in the first half, Joey Chica cracked a right-footed shot from the left diagonal that McElfresh saved out for a corner kick to keep it 0-0.

Up 2-0, the Tritons deflected a pair of scares late. Irvin Aguiniga’s powerful header in the 79th minute was cleared off the goal line at the near post by Keating. Within two minutes, McElfresh was on the scene again to deny Israel Murguia with a nice volley attempt.

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