THE SCHEDULE
Match 18 - CCAA Tournament First Round
at Cal State L.A. (11-3-2, 8-3-1 CCAA)
Tuesday, Nov. 3 • 7 p.m.
Jesse Owens Track • Los Angeles
Live Stats

TRITONS PLAY IN CCAA FIRST ROUND TUESDAY IN LOS ANGELES
The UC San Diego men's soccer team has qualified for a third consecutive California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Tournament, and heads to Los Angeles for a first-round match on Tuesday, Nov. 3. The sixth-seeded Tritons (6-5-6, 5-3-4 CCAA) take on third-seeded rival Cal State L.A. (11-3-2, 8-3-1 CCAA) at Jesse Owens Track with kickoff slated for 7 p.m. UCSD is 1-4-4 outside of La Jolla in 2015, with CSULA 4-1-1 at home. Live stats are available here.

CCAA TOURNAMENT HISTORY
UCSD is making its eighth appearance at the CCAA Championship and third straight. The Tritons played Stanislaus State to a scoreless deadlock through 110 minutes in La Jolla a year ago before being eliminated via penalty-kick tiebreaker, 5-4. They were edged 1-0 by Cal State L.A. in the 2013 final in Turlock after a come-from-behind 2-1 semifinal triumph over rival Chico State on Malek Bashti's overtime strike. They previously qualified for four consecutive installments from 2002-05, after earning their first berth in their inaugural year in Division II and the CCAA in 2000. UCSD has gone 2-5-2 at the event, being eliminated on four occasions in the semifinal round, with a 5-1 defeat to Chico State in its only other CCAA final in 2003 in Carson. The Tritons are 0-1 against Cal State L.A. in the CCAA tourney.

2014 - Triton Soccer Stadium, La Jolla
First Round - UC San Diego 0, Stanislaus State 0 (2OT) (STAN advanced on penalty kicks, 5-4)
2013 - Warrior Stadium, Turlock
Semifinal - UC San Diego 2, Chico State 1 (OT)
Championship - Cal State L.A. 1, UC San Diego 0
2005 - Warrior Soccer Field, Turlock
Semifinal - Sonoma State 3, UC San Diego 1
2004 - Toro Field, Carson
Semifinal - Cal State Bakersfield 1, UC San Diego 1 (CSUB advanced on penalty kicks, 3-1)
2003 - Toro Field, Carson
Semifinal - UC San Diego 2, Cal State Dominguez Hills 1
Championship - Chico State 5, UC San Diego 1
2002 - Luchessi Park, Petaluma
Semifinal - Cal State Dominguez Hills 1, UC San Diego 0
2000 - Toro Field, Carson
Semifinal - Sonoma State 4, UC San Diego 1

A LOOK BACK AT LAST WEEK
UCSD was idle all of last week, having last played at Chico State on Friday, Oct. 23, that critical match resulting in a 1-1 tie and largely enabling the Tritons to hold off the rival Wildcats for the sixth and final spot in the 2015 CCAA Tournament.

POSTSEASON PICTURE
UCSD completed the league schedule tied for fifth at 19 points, losing out to Sonoma State for the No. 5 seed this week as a result of their 3-0 loss head to head in Rohnert Park this season. Fifth-ranked Cal State Dominguez Hills is the regular-season champion and top seed of the CCAA Tournament, with Cal Poly Pomona joining the Toros in having a first-round bye on Tuesday. Those two teams are through to the semifinals this Friday night at Kellogg Field on the campus of Cal Poly Pomona, a first-time host of the league semis and final. The other first-round tilt is in Turlock Tuesday at 7 p.m. between fourth-seeded Stanislaus State and Sonoma State. Tuesday's winner between UCSD and CSULA next faces host CPP in Friday's second semifinal at 7 p.m., with the victor in Turlock facing Cal State Dominguez Hills at 5:30 p.m. The CCAA final is set for a 3 p.m. kickoff in Pomona on Sunday, Nov. 8.

PREMIER DEFENSE
UCSD has boasted one of the top seven defenses nationally in the NCAA Division II in terms of team goals-against average in each of the last three seasons. The Tritons led the country in that category in 2012 with a then-CCAA-record mark of 0.44, before finishing fourth in 2013 (0.52) and seventh in 2014 (0.65). Their current average stands at 0.98, 35th in Division II. Uncharacteristically at California Baptist (9/12), UCSD allowed three goals in a single match for the first time since another 3-0 road defeat, at Cal State Dominguez Hills, on Oct. 14, 2012. The Tritons had gone 50 consecutive games without allowing that many opposition scores. They did not concede for over 458 minutes of home action in 2015, until the final 12 minutes of a 2-1 loss to Stanislaus State (9/27).

TRITON NOTES
Cameron McElfresh leads the CCAA in shutouts (tied-seven) and minutes played (1650:00), and is seventh with a 0.98 goals-against average ... McElfresh ranks seventh nationally in minutes and 46th in GAA ... UCSD has scored more than once in a match twice in 2015, in a 3-2 win vs. Cal State Monterey Bay (10/9), and a 2-2 draw at Humboldt State (10/16), and has registered just 14 goals in 16 games ... The Tritons have converted four of six penalty-kick opportunities into goals, with five different players taking one ... UCSD has started three true freshmen three times this year, vs. Cal State East Bay (9/25) with Quinn Allan, Andrew Flores and Brandon Monteiro Magpayo, at Cal State Dominguez Hills (10/2) with Allan, Flores and Andy Sartor, and most recently in the key game at Chico State (10/23) with Allan, Flores and Monteiro Magpayo ... On Sunday, Oct. 11, former Triton goalkeeper Brian Siljander (1987-90) joined Chris Romey (1989-91, 93) as the men's soccer program's second inductee into the UCSD Athletics Hall of Fame ... Siljander was the starting goalkeeper on the first Triton men's soccer team to win a national championship back in 1988, and still holds UCSD records in career GAA (0.50), single-season GAA (0.31 in 1988) and career shutouts (37) ... UCSD is 11-3-2 in season openers in the Division II era, and is unbeaten (2-0-1) over its last three, including the 1-1 draw at Saint Martin's (9/3) ... UCSD is 9-5-2 in CCAA openers after successive 1-0 triumphs at Cal State L.A. and vs. Cal Poly Pomona (9/18) ... UCSD was picked by league head coaches to place fourth in the 2015 CCAA preseason poll, with reigning West Region champion Cal State L.A. the favorite with eight of 13 first-place votes ... The Tritons are coming off of back-to-back trips to both the CCAA and NCAA tournaments ... UCSD has posted a winning record in five straight seasons and six out of seven under head coach Jon Pascale ... The Tritons went 10-4-6 overall and 5-2-4 in CCAA play in 2014, tying for third in the then-12-team league.

ROSTER NOTES
Among 28 players on the 2015 roster are 15 returners, 13 newcomers, and no seniors ... Nine players have made their Triton debuts this season, including five true freshmen and junior Justice Duerksen, a transfer from Division I Seattle University who has started 13 of 17 matches on the left wing ... UCSD returns the hub of its defense in redshirt juniors Cameron McElfresh in goal and Brett Sampiere (Solana Beach/Torrey Pines HS) and Kuba Waligorski on the back line ... Waligorski was a Daktronics All-West Region Second Team and All-CCAA Second Team pick in a first go-around in La Jolla for the native of Poland, while McElfresh garnered All-CCAA honorable mention in his first full season as the starting net-minder ... Sampiere earned All-CCAA honorable mention in 2013 before missing 12 of 20 games a year ago ... Besides Sampiere, other San Diego products are sophomore winger Zachary Lagotta (Cathedral Catholic HS) and true freshmen Nathaniel Bloom (Encinitas/San Dieguito HS Academy) and Daniel Boemer (Scripps Ranch HS) ... Bloom's first collegiate goal proved to be the decider in the 26th minute of UCSD's first win of 2015, vs. Concordia (9/8) in the home opener.

HEAD COACH JON PASCALE
Jon Pascale, a two-time CCAA Coach of the Year through back-to-back honors in 2012 and 2013, has posted a 74-45-31 (.597) overall record in his eighth season in charge of the UCSD men's soccer program. He is 56-37-23 (.582) in arguably the toughest NCAA Division II conference in the nation, the CCAA. Pascale has guided the Tritons to five straight winning campaigns, six of his seven, and now three successive berths in the CCAA Tournament with back-to-back trips to the NCAA Championship. A 1-0 home victory over Sonoma State on Sept. 29, 2013, gave him career win No. 50, while a 2-0 triumph at Cal State Stanislaus in the very next match on Oct. 4 marked his 100th contest at the Triton helm. Pascale directed his first postseason tilt on Nov. 8, 2013, in Turlock, a come-from-behind, 2-1 overtime win over rival Chico State in a CCAA Championship semifinal. He made his NCAA Championship debut as a head coach on Nov. 16, 2013, in La Jolla. A 2-0 home decision over Cal State East Bay on Oct. 12, 2014, meant CCAA win No. 50 for Pascale, who coached his 100th CCAA tilt at Cal State Monterey Bay five days later.

ABOUT THE GOLDEN EAGLES
Cal State L.A. (11-3-2, 8-3-1 CCAA) finished with a share of third place in the league standings and took the No. 3 seed in the conference tournament via tiebreaker. The defending West Region champion Golden Eagles won a pair of one-goal decisions on the road to round out the league slate, 2-1 at Stanislaus State and 3-2 at Cal State East Bay. They rallied from a 2-0 deficit, scoring twice in the last 8:14, for Saturday's win at East Bay. CSULA is led by Troy Dumlao with his team-best six goals, while Herbert Biste and Joshua Cortez have added five scores each. Cal State L.A. is directed by 13th-year head coach Chris Chamides. The Golden Eagles were CCAA champions in 2011 and 2013.

SERIES HISTORY
The all-time series between these rivals is exactly even now at 13-13-4, following UCSD's 1-0 win in Los Angeles in this year's regular-season meeting back on Oct. 4. That was thanks to an 88th-minute, far-post Nick Palano volley from a right-sided Zachary Lagotta cross. The Tritons in fact have won back-to-back regular-season matchups at CSULA, coming out on top by the identical 1-0 score on Sept. 26, 2014, through a 75th-minute Brandon Baumanpenalty kick. CSULA did later end UCSD's 2014 season, however, in the first round of the NCAA Championship in Azusa last Nov. 13, the squads playing to a 1-1 deadlock through 110 minutes before the 14th-ranked Golden Eagles advanced via penalty-kick tiebreaker, 5-4. The teams faced off three times in 2013, with a pair of 1-0 wins going in favor of the Golden Eagles around a 1-1 draw in the regular-season finale in La Jolla. CSULA had won three straight against UCSD in Los Angeles, all 1-0, prior to last year's matchup. The Tritons had not upended CSULA anywhere over their previous seven meetings (0-6-1) since a 1-0 triumph in Los Angeles on Oct. 10, 2010. Of those six losses, five were by the final score of 1-0.

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)
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UCSD Men's Soccer on Facebook
UCSD Men's Soccer on Instagram (@UCSDtritons)

UP NEXT
Should UCSD advance past Cal State L.A. on Tuesday night, it will head to Pomona on Thursday and take on second-seeded host Cal Poly Pomona in a CCAA semifinal on Friday, Nov. 6, with kickoff at Kellogg Field slated for 7 p.m. Elimination Tuesday would mean the end of the Tritons' 2015 season.

#TritonsRising

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