UCSD Women Begin Conference Play at Home

September 17, 2015

THE SCHEDULE
Match 6
vs. Cal Poly Pomona (3-1, 0-0 CCAA)
Friday, Sept. 18 • 4:30 p.m.
Triton Soccer Stadium • La Jolla
Live Stats

Match 7
vs. Cal State San Bernardino (1-3-1, 0-0 CCAA)
Sunday, Sept. 20 • 4:30 p.m.
Triton Soccer Stadium • La Jolla
Live Stats

TRITONS BEGIN CONFERENCE PLAY AT HOME
The UC San Diego women's soccer team begins the 12-game California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) portion of its 2015 schedule at home this weekend. The Tritons (4-1), off to their best start since 2012 (5-0), are one match into a season-long five-game homestand through the remainder of September. They host Cal Poly Pomona on Friday, Sept. 18, and Cal State San Bernardino on Sunday, Sept. 20. Kickoff at Triton Soccer Stadium each evening is set for 4:30 p.m. Both games are the first halves of doubleheaders with the Triton men, who take the field at 7 p.m.

UCSD had its 2014 campaign ended by CPP in Pomona, 2-0, in the first round of the CCAA Championship. The Tritons are a perfect 3-0 in La Jolla thus far this season.

MATCHDAY SPECS
Once again in 2015, all regular-season home matches at Triton Soccer Stadium are free to attend. Parking permits are required, however, on weeknights on the UCSD campus. Parking permits can be purchased at machines situated at corners of either of the nearest parking lots, behind the spectator stand, as well as the Hopkins Parking Structure behind RIMAC. Parking is free on Saturday and Sunday. All games, home and away, have live stats. Some matches will also feature video. All live links are available here.

A LOOK BACK AT LAST WEEK
UCSD went 2-1 over a five-day span through Monday's dramatic 2-1 triumph over then-14th-ranked Cal State L.A. in a non-conference meeting between the CCAA rivals. The Tritons got goals from a pair of true freshmen, Mary Reilly and Megumi Barber, with Barber's the first of her college career in the 76th minute, to edge the reigning league champion and preseason favorite Golden Eagles. UCSD had previously dropped a 1-0 decision at Azusa Pacific last Thursday, before blanking California Baptist, 1-0, Saturday in Riverside behind a 13th-minute penalty-kick goal by Jordyn McNuttKelcie Brodsky made a pair of saves in that one for her second clean sheet of 2015.

TRITONS IN REGION POLL
UCSD remained eighth in the second edition of the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) West Region poll, released on Tuesday.

A LOOK AT THE CCAA
Conference activity begins this Friday, Sept. 18, for 12 squads. For the second year in a row, the CCAA slate will consist of a single round robin, with all teams facing each other once. The change is that there will be 12 matches total, one more than in 2014, as UCSD's area rival, Cal State San Marcos, has joined the league as its 13th member. The top six sides in the final regular-season standings again qualify for the CCAA Women's Soccer Tournament. The conference semifinals and final will be hosted for the first time by Cal Poly Pomona at Kellogg Field, Nov. 6-8. UCSD is 8-7 in CCAA openers after a 1-0 loss at Cal State L.A. last season.

CCAA PRESEASON POLL
UCSD was picked to finish seventh in the 2015 CCAA race, as voted on in the preseason poll conducted by the league's 13 head coaches. The Tritons accumulated 93 points to sit just behind Cal State San Bernardino at 98 points. A total of five squads garnered at least one first-place vote. Reigning champion Cal State L.A. is favored to repeat, collecting 130 points from five first-place nods, with Stanislaus State a close second at 128 points and four first-place votes, and Cal Poly Pomona (112, one first-place vote) third. Sonoma State (109, two first-place votes) and Chico State (103, one first-place vote) followed.

BRODSKY BROADENS CAREER CREDENTIALS, REACHES 300-SAVE PLATEAU
Kelcie Brodsky continues to add to her stellar numbers as UCSD's fourth-year starting goalkeeper. Having set the program's single-season saves mark at 114 as a true freshman in 2012, she broke the career standard in that category in the final game of her junior campaign. She then eclipsed the 300-save mark with her seventh in the 56th minute at Azusa Pacific (9/10), reaching double figures for a single contest for the second time as she finished with 11. Brodsky's up-to-date career total stands at 310. At home against Point Loma (9/5), she kept her 20th individual shutout as a Triton, and now has two on the year and 21 in all. The Agoura Hills product has received postseason recognition from the CCAA for each of her first three years. She made the All-CCAA Second Team as a freshman and junior, garnering All-CCAA honorable mention in between.

YOUTH IS SERVED
Five of UCSD's six goals this season have come from underclassmen, with two by sophomore Jordyn McNutt, the Tritons' points leader in 2014, and two from Mary Reilly. The other two scores have come from Megumi Barber, like Reilly a true freshman, and redshirt junior Kiera Bocchino. Of UCSD's starting 11 the past two contests, seven players were either freshmen or sophomores. Goalkeeper Kelcie Brodsky is the only senior who has seen action.

TRITON NOTES
UCSD is 14-1-1 in season openers in the Division II era, including the 2-1 overtime triumph at home vs. Concordia (9/3) ... All four Triton wins in 2015 have been by one-goal margins ... UCSD is 4-1 in one-goal games ... The Tritons went 9-6-3 overall and 6-3-2 in the CCAA a year ago, finding their stride down the stretch in finishing the regular season 5-0-1, with four of those matches away from home and allowing just a single goal, to earn a return trip to the conference tournament in sixth place in the standings.

ROSTER NOTES
UCSD's 32-player 2015 roster has four seniors in fourth-year goalkeepers Kelcie Brodsky and Itzel Gonzalez, fourth-year midfielder Maile Nilsson (San Diego/The Preuss School UCSD), and third-year Triton Lyndsay Gehring ... Fourteen newcomers have joined the program, including 11 true freshmen ... Eight new Tritons have made their debuts ... Back are 2014 All-CCAA Second Team picks Brodsky and Jordyn McNutt, who led the side in goals (tied-five), assists (seven) and points (17) as a freshman out of University City High School ... Kiera Bocchino (four goals, three assists), Aimee EllisKatie O'Laughlin (Carlsbad/Pacific Ridge School) and Kristen Sampietro also return as Tritons who started at least 10 matches in 2014 ... Bocchino, who primarily plays on the left wing, and new center back Meghan Berry, both redshirt juniors, are first-time co-captains ... Nine players are from San Diego in McNutt, Nilsson, O'Laughlin, Maxia Espino(Chula Vista/Hilltop HS), Anna Nilsson (San Diego/The Preuss School UCSD) and Taylor Ramos (San Diego/Coronado HS), and newcomers Megumi Barber (San Diego/Mt. Carmel HS), Elisa Martinez (El Cajon/Univ. of Sioux Falls/Francis Parker School) and Mary Reilly (Chula Vista/Hilltop HS) ... Anna is the younger sister of Maile ... Berry, a second-year Triton, attended San Diego Miramar College after Mt. Carmel High School, was born in Dallas and lists Austin, Texas, as her hometown.

HEAD COACH BRIAN McMANUS
Brian McManus is in his 29th season in charge of the UCSD women's soccer program. With a career record of 454-80-50, he has achieved the most wins (one more than Gabe Mejail of Merrimack College) in NCAA Division II women's soccer history, and fifth-most (ahead of Mejail) for all divisions. McManus' career winning percentage heading into 2015 of .820, ranked among the top 10 in college women's soccer annals, both overall (No. 9) and Division II only (No. 4). He was also second in win percentage among active Division II coaches. McManus has directed UCSD to seven national championships and a record eight CCAA banners, with the Tritons advancing to the national semifinals a remarkable 15 times in his 28 years. Under his guidance, UCSD has qualified for the NCAA tournament all 13 seasons during the Division III days, and all but three (2004, 2013-14) of 15 years since the move up to Division II. McManus' Tritons missed the CCAA Championship for the first time in 2013, having earned 13 straight berths after joining the conference. They rallied late to achieve a return trip to that event a year ago.

JONESY NOW ASSOCIATE HEAD COACH
Kristin Jones, a two-time national champion and two-time All-American as one of the greatest players to ever come through the storied UCSD women's soccer program, was elevated by Brian McManus to the position of associate head coach on Aug. 28. She is in her 16th straight year as a Triton, and 12th on the UCSD bench. Jones joined McManus' staff immediately upon exhausting her eligibility, ahead of the 2004 season, and became his top assistant in 2006.

ABOUT THE BRONCOS
Cal Poly Pomona (3-1) comes off of a split of two games in Denver, Colo., last weekend, as it fell at Metro State, 1-0, before edging Regis, 2-1. The Broncos had opened the season with shutout home wins over Dominican (5-0) and Academy of Art (1-0). CPP's eight goals have come from eight different scorers, with sophomore Ricki Ives (0.50 GAA) the starting goalkeeper. Vanessa Valentine is the Broncos' first-year head coach.

SERIES HISTORY
UCSD leads the all-time series, 33-12-4. The Tritons dropped both meetings last year, 1-0 in La Jolla during the regular season on an unassisted Daisy Duran goal just 2:35 into the contest, and 2-0 in Pomona in a first-round matchup of the CCAA tournament. UCSD had swept the home-and-home series four years in a row before the teams played to a 2-2 draw in the initial 2013 meeting in La Jolla. A first-half opener by Jamie Benedetto and 70th-minute equalizer by Cassie Callahan bookended a pair of Bronco scores. The return date that year in Pomona went the way of the Tritons, 1-0, on Michelle Yasutake's strike in the 81st minute.

ABOUT THE COYOTES
Cal State San Bernardino (1-3-1) has lost three straight heading into its CCAA opener Friday afternoon at Cal State San Marcos. The Coyotes were most recently in Allendale, Mich., suffering defeats of 5-1 to host and two-time defending national champion Grand Valley State, and 1-0 to Ferris State. LeBaron Hollimon is the Coyotes' first-year head coach.

SERIES HISTORY
UCSD has largely dominated the all-time series at 32-5-6, including a 1-0 upset of the then-eighth-ranked Coyotes in La Jolla last Oct. 3. That result marked CSUSB's first loss of 2014 after nine straight wins to open, with Cassie Callahantapping in Jordyn McNutt's corner kick from close range in the 80th minute. In 2013, the teams played to a 1-1 draw in San Bernardino, before the Tritons won 2-1 in La Jolla on another late Callahan decider, in the 82nd. They split their two meetings in 2012, with the Coyotes grabbing a rare win, 1-0 in overtime, in La Jolla after the Tritons had earlier posted a 1-0 victory of their own in double overtime, once again through a Callahan tally.

GEAR UP
For the latest in Triton athletic gear, make sure to visit ucsdtritonsgear.com. Run by UCSD Athletics' online partner, Advanced-Online, the site provides an on-demand option for Triton athletic apparel and merchandise. Fans have access to over 600 products that can be processed and shipped within 24 hours.

FOR THE YOUNGER CROWD
Got some young Triton fans in your family? If they are in eighth grade or under, check out the Junior Triton Club. Membership includes a free t-shirt, admission to over 100 UCSD home athletic events, and much more!

SOCIAL MEDIA (#TritonsRising)
UCSD Athletics on Facebook (UCSDtritons)
UCSD Athletics on Instagram (@UCSDtritons)
UCSD Athletics on Twitter (@UCSDtritons)
UCSD Athletics on YouTube (UCSDathletics)

UP NEXT
The Tritons remain at home for a second straight weekend of CCAA play. UCSD hosts Cal State East Bay at Triton Soccer Stadium on Friday, Sept. 25, at 7 p.m., and Stanislaus State on Sunday, Sept. 27, at 2 p.m. The matches will mark the second halves of doubleheaders with the Triton men, as well as the first contests with the UCSD student population back on campus. Students get free t-shirts courtesy of Toyota on Sept. 25, as part of First Friday.

#TritonsRising

Trending Videos
 
IMG Academy Top 150 Rankings
see full ranking:
Boys Girls