No. 8 UCSD Women Pursue CCAA Perfection
THE SCHEDULE
Match 17
at Cal State San Bernardino (8-5-1, 7-2-1 CCAA)
Thursday, Oct. 27 • 3 p.m.
Premier Field • San Bernardino
Live Stats
Match 18
at Cal Poly Pomona (7-5-2, 6-3-1 CCAA)
Saturday, Oct. 29 • 11:30 a.m.
Kellogg Field • Pomona
Live Video • Live Stats
EIGHTH-RANKED UC SAN DIEGO TWO WINS AWAY FROM PERFECT CCAA LEDGER
The No. 8 University of California San Diego women's soccer team is on the road for two final California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) contests this week. League leader UC San Diego (14-2, 10-0 CCAA) will be looking to win a record ninth CCAA championship, as well as become the first side to run the league table since 1998, currently as the CCAA's only remaining team with a perfect ledger. The Tritons are at third-place Cal State San Bernardino (8-5-1, 7-2-1 CCAA) on Thursday, Oct. 27, at 3 p.m., and at fourth-place Cal Poly Pomona (7-5-2, 6-3-1 CCAA) on Saturday, Oct. 29, at 11:30 a.m. Both contests are part of doubleheaders with the 10th-ranked UCSD men. The Tritons are 7-1 away from home in 2016. They boast the league's longest current win streak, at 11 straight, with the last eight in shutout fashion.
TRITON SOCCER NOW ON UCSDTRITONS.TV!
For the very first time, all matches at Triton Soccer Stadium in 2016 feature a live video stream on UCSDtritons.tv. The platform, the product of a partnership between UC San Diego Athletics and local broadband services and technology giant ViaSat, is in its first full year. All broadcasts are in multi-camera high definition, and can be viewed from smartphones and tablets alongside desktop and laptop computers. UC San Diego alum and former baseball pitcher (2007-08) Tim Strombel (@Timmy2Sides) handles the play-by-play duties, and welcomes an array of guests. Viewing is subscription-based, though it is free from UCSD campus IP addresses. A package that gives viewers access to all streamed events (baseball, basketball, soccer, softball, volleyball, water polo and more) throughout the 2016-17 academic year is available for $34.99. A single-day option can be purchased for $5.99, meaning doubleheaders are two-for-one. Events are archived.
MORE LIVE COVERAGE
All games have live stats. Select road matches will also have video, including Saturday in Pomona, for free. Fans can access live coverage from the Schedule/Results page, or by clicking on the links above. Starting lineups, live in-game updates and other news and notes can be found by following Triton Soccer all season long on the UCSD Athletics Twitter handle (@UCSDtritons). Finally, check out the CCAA live scoreboard here to keep up on results around the league.
NATIONAL POLL
UCSD moved up one spot from No. 8 to No. 9 nationally in Tuesday's latest National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) poll. With the first in-season release of the NSCAA poll on Sept. 6, UCSD entered at No. 7, having been left out of the preseason listing. It marked a first national rank for the Tritons since they were No. 23 on Sept. 17, 2013. UCSD's highest ranks this year have been No. 6 nationally (Sept. 13) and No. 1 in the West. The NSCAA currently has the Tritons No. 2 in the West.
REGIONAL POLL
Wednesday marked the unveiling of the second official NCAA regional polls, with UCSD remaining in second behind the nation's top-ranked team, Western Washington. The top six teams in the final edition of those rankings on Monday, Nov. 7 (3 p.m. PT, live on NCAA.com), qualify for the NCAA Championship, though on the women's side, there are three automatic berths for the champions of the three conferences in the West. The third release is set for Wednesday, Nov. 2.
A LOOK BACK AT LAST WEEK
UCSD took care of business on a return trip to the Bay Area last weekend, racing past Stanislaus State on Friday night, 3-0, before demolishing Cal State East Bay on Sunday, 6-0. Mary Reilly scored three goals, including both early game-winners, while strike partner Katie O'Laughlin added a strike in each game to go along with four total assists, including a career-high three on Sunday. Itzel Gonzalez collected two saves for two more individual shutouts.
AROUND THE CCAA
UCSD is the only perfect 10-0 team in the CCAA, alone on top with the maximum 30 points with one week left. Last year's champion, Sonoma State (8-1-1), is second with 25 points, with the Tritons holding the head-to-head tiebreaker, meaning even just one more point from a draw this week, will give UCSD the title. This week's road opponents, Cal State San Bernardino (22) and Cal Poly Pomona (19), are third and fourth, respectively. The top six teams make the CCAA Tournament field next month. The Tritons have already clinched both a third straight berth, as well as a first-round bye on Tuesday, Nov. 1. They will fly to Northern California on Wednesday, Nov. 2, headed back to Turlock for the CCAA semifinals on Friday, Nov. 4, at Warrior Stadium. Click here for the latest standings and hereto follow the action via the live scoreboard.
WHAT'S AT STAKE
One more point from just a tie this week would give UC San Diego the CCAA championship. It would be a record ninth CCAA crown for the Tritons, and first since 2012. They have nine prior CCAA Tournament banners, also the most of any other side, but this is just the third year in which the conference has done away with a divisional format, with the top point-getter at the end of the regular season, now recognized as the CCAA champion, as opposed to the tourney winner in past years. Cal State LA and Sonoma State topped the table in 2014 and 2015, respectively. UCSD has its sights on bigger and better things, however, and is looking to win both of its remaining regular-season matches to become the first team to run the CCAA table since Sonoma State went 14-0 in 1998.
TRITONS ASSURED OF CHANCE FOR CCAA TOURNEY TITLE DEFENSE
The results of Sunday, Oct. 16, meant UCSD was the first team to book its spot in the six-team 2016 CCAA Tournament. The Tritons have only missed that event once since joining the league for the 2000 season, in 2013, and are record nine-time champions. They thus are assured the opportunity to defend their ninth banner from a year ago. UCSD's seed is undetermined as of yet, but with Sunday's win in Hayward, it is also guaranteed straight passage into the CCAA semifinals in Turlock on Friday, Nov. 4.
O'LAUGHLIN BEST IN WEST
Katie O'Laughlin's career-best 14 goals lead the CCAA and the West Region. She is in a three-way tie for 13th nationally in goals, and a 16-way tie for fifth with five game-winners. Strike partner Mary Reilly is the league's only player even at nine goals. O'Laughlin has one of two CCAA and four West Region hat tricks. She has strung together a career-best, active run of five straight games with a goal, having produced a pair of prior three-game goal-scoring streaks in 2016, to begin the year (Sept. 1-9), and from Sept. 16-25.
GOALS GALORE
UC San Diego's 48 goals as a team, through 16 matches, leads both the CCAA and the West Region, and ranks ninth nationally in the NCAA Division II. The next closest in the CCAA is Stanislaus State with 28. Katie O'Laughlin(14G, 7A), Mary Reilly (9G, 9A), Kiera Bocchino (7G, 4A) and Jordyn McNutt (4G, 9A) have accounted for 34 of those goals, and 29 of 47 assists. Those 47 assists also pace the West Region, and are fourth nationally. UCSD's record for single-season goals in the NCAA Division II era, which is also believed to be the CCAA standard, is 67 goals from its first year at that level in 2000.
STREAK STUFF
This is UCSD's longest win streak since another 11-gamer in 2006 from Oct. 4-Nov. 4. This run also marks the Tritons' longest unbeaten stretch since they began the 2011 season at 8-0-4. UCSD's current shutout stretch has reached 745:25. The Tritons have their longest streak of shutouts of the Division II era (since 2000), and longest since another eight-gamer from Sept. 29-Oct. 27, 1997. They have scored two or more goals in 12 successive games, a record streak for the program's Division II days.
HISTORIC OFFENSIVE RUN
UC San Diego has scored two or more goals in 12 consecutive matches. The Tritons' previous best in their NCAA Division II days, since 2000, was an eight-game stretch back in 2000. They have scored two or more goals in 15 of 16 contests in 2016. The 48 goals are UCSD's most in a decade, since 2006 (60).
GONZ GREAT IN GOAL
Fifth-year senior goalkeeper Itzel Gonzalez has kept a CCAA-best 12 clean sheets in this, her first year as UCSD's No. 1 between the posts, including six straight. Her 0.374 goals-against average is tops in the CCAA, second in the West, and now up to seventh nationally. The Tritons' Division II-best shutout streak has stretched to 745:25.
RARE STATISTIC
Cal State LA did not gain credit for a single shot in its 2-0 loss to UCSD in La Jolla on Friday, Oct. 14. The Tritons had not achieved such a whitewash in over 15 years, going back at least through the 2001 season.
SHOT DOMINANCE
UCSD has tripled its 2016 opponents in shots taken, 308-101. The Tritons have 54 more shots than the closest team in the CCAA, Chico State (254), and have produced nine games with 20 or more, including a season high of 28 at Cal State Monterey Bay (10/9).
#DYNAMICDUO
Junior Katie O'Laughlin and sophomore Mary Reilly, both local products, make up arguably the best forward tandem in the West Region, if not all of the NCAA Division II. O'Laughlin has a region-best 14 goals, with seven assists, while Reilly has produced nine goals and a CCAA-leading nine assists. They are thus 1-2 on both the team and CCAA points charts, at 35 and 27, respectively. Reilly (11) and O'Laughlin (10) were 1-2 in the CCAA in goals in 2015. It's now O'Laughlin on top and Reilly second.
JORDY IN FAMILIAR TERRITORY
Jordyn McNutt, who has held at least a share of the CCAA lead in assists in each of her first two years in Triton colors, is back at the top of the league standings in that category, sharing that spot with teammate Mary Reilly at nine apiece. The junior winger set up four of UCSD's six goals in two home wins on Sept. 30 and Oct. 2, including her first career three-assist effort in the latter contest against Humboldt State. It was in fact the first three-assist game by a Triton since Sara Bolton on Sept. 2, 2010. McNutt now has five multi-assist games for her career, including two this year. She is tied for 10th nationally in assists, and has 26 for her career.
ASSIST TRIFECTAS
Jordyn McNutt and Katie O'Laughlin have two of 31 three-assist matches in Division II in 2016, and two of four in the CCAA. There have been five four-assist performances.
POINT MILESTONES
Four current Tritons have eclipsed the 50-point plateau for their careers. Katie O'Laughlin's game-winner at Cal State Monterey Bay (10/9) pushed her to 51, and she is now at 63. Kiera Bocchino reached 50 with her assist on Senior Day against CSUDH (10/16), and sits at 51. Jordyn McNutt (52) assisted on Mary Reilly's (55) opener at Stanislaus State (10/21) to get them both to the mark.
E BACK FROM MEXICO
Junior central midfielder Elisa Martinez (El Cajon/Francis Parker School), returned from the Mexican capital of Mexico City on Oct. 1, and was on the bench during the Oct. 2 matchup with Humboldt State, though she did not play. She left on Sept. 18 after being formally invited on Sept. 12 to participate in her second training camp with the Mexico U-20 national team. Martinez was previously involved in her first Mexican camp at any age level, also in Mexico City, July 31-Aug. 7. The training periods served as tryouts for the side which will represent Mexico at the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup, to be held in Papua New Guinea from Nov. 13-Dec. 3. Martinez was back on the field for UCSD at SF State on Oct. 7, and reclaimed her spot in the starting lineup two days later.
STRONG SCHEDULE
For the month of September, six of nine UCSD opponents were either nationally-ranked at the time of the match, or receiving votes just outside of the top 25. In addition, the Tritons won at two-time defending Pacific West Conference champion Point Loma, as well as at Cal State San Marcos, which was the CCAA's last remaining unbeaten when UCSD posted a 4-0 victory on Sept. 21.
O'LAUGHLIN A STAR OF THE MONTH
Katie O'Laughlin was named on Oct. 5 among September's San Diego Hall of Champions Stars of the Month. She scored eight goals over UCSD's nine matches during the month, including four game-winners, as the Tritons went 7-2. O'Laughlin is a first-time honoree. Strike partner Mary Reilly was an award winner for November of 2015.
REILLY REELS IN FIRST CCAA WEEKLY NOD
Sophomore starlet Mary Reilly was named on Sept. 27 as the CCAA Player of the Week for the week of Sept. 19-25. It was the first such honor for the Chula Vista product's (Hilltop HS) career, coming after a stalwart performance against Chico State on Sept. 25 that saw her assist on UCSD's first two goals before scoring an exquisite 87th-minute clincher in the 3-1 victory.
HAT TRICK HERO O'LAUGHLIN EARNS FIRST WEEKLY AWARD
On Sept. 6, Katie O'Laughlin was named the season's first CCAA Player of the Week, thanks to her hat trick against APU. The junior Carlsbad product needed a mere 27 seconds to score her first of 2016, before doubling the advantage at 14:05 through a corner-kick header, and then completing her hat trick late on a breakaway. O'Laughlin is a two-time CCAA Player of the Week.
FIRST-WEEK SUPERLATIVES
UCSD's 5-0 rout of Azusa Pacific marked the first time the Tritons tallied five goals in a single game since a 5-1 home win over Cal State East Bay on Oct. 12, 2014. It was their most lopsided defeat since a 6-1 margin at home in the 2012 opener on Sept. 1 against Central Washington. The result is also believed to be UCSD's heftiest victory over a ranked opponent in at least it's Division II history. With the Sept. 6 win at Point Loma, the Tritons are a perfect 3-0 against their crosstown rivals, with no goals conceded over 270 minutes.
TRITON NOTES
UCSD has a 6-0 romp, two 5-0 wins and three 4-0 victories in 2016 ... The Tritons are 9-8 in CCAA openers after a 4-0 win at CSUSM on Sept. 21 ended a run of two straight defeats ... UCSD is 15-1-1 in season openers in its NCAA Division II era, since 2000, following the 5-0 rout of then-12th-ranked Azusa Pacific on Sept. 1 ... UCSD is favored to win the 2016 CCAA title, grabbing six of 13 first-place votes in the preseason poll.
2016 SEASON OUTLOOK
Brian McManus, in his 30th season in charge, has had to replace just one starter in goalkeeper Kelcie Brodsky. The rest of a strong, veteran lineup is back, led by four All-CCAA First Team selections and area products in senior center back Meghan Berry (Mt. Carmel HS), junior winger Jordyn McNutt (University City HS), and the prolific strike tandem of junior Katie O'Laughlin (Pacific Ridge School) and sophomore Mary Reilly (Hilltop HS).
Reilly, the CCAA Freshman of the Year, and O'Laughlin, were statistically the league's top scoring duo, finishing 1-2 in goals at 11 and 10, respectively. Reilly paced the conference in most offensive categories, including points (28), game-winners (tied-four), shots (80) and shots on goal (52). McNutt provided a CCAA- and career-best 10 assists, while Berry was a revelation anchoring the back line after moving from central midfield during the 2015 preseason.
Senior Itzel Gonzalez has taken over in goal. She and winger Kiera Bocchino are the program's longest-standing members, both in their fifth year. Jamie Benedetto, like Berry, Bocchino, McNutt and Reilly, started all 22 matches in 2015. Kristen Sampietro (18), Brie Diaz (13), Aimee Ellis (13) and Taylor Ramos (10) all drew double-digit starts. Elisa Martinez earned her way into McManus' lineup in central midfield for each of the final nine games, and fellow junior Makenzie Brito the last seven at right back. Benedetto and Bocchino were All-CCAA Second Team picks, with Diaz garnering honorable mention in her first year on campus after a transfer from UC Riverside.
2015 REWIND
The Tritons went 15-6-1 overall and 7-4-1 in the CCAA a year ago. They surged down the stretch for the second year in succession, at 5-1 over their last six regular-season contests after going 5-0-1 over that same period in 2014. Picked seventh in the 2015 preseason, UCSD was seeded fourth in the CCAA Tournament before rolling to a record ninth banner. UCSD has only missed that event once, in 2013, since joining the league for the 2000 season.
ROSTER NOTES
UCSD's 30-player 2016 roster has five seniors in fifth-year team members Kiera Bocchino and Itzel Gonzalez, alongside Jamie Benedetto, Meghan Berry and Kristen Sampietro ... Berry and Bocchino are second-year co-captains ... Twelve newcomers have joined the program, including 10 true freshmen ... Ten Tritons have San Diego ties, in Megumi Barber (San Diego/Mt. Carmel HS), Meghan Berry (Austin, Texas/San Diego Miramar College/Mt. Carmel HS), Sydney Davey (La Jolla/La Jolla HS), Maxia Espino (Chula Vista/Hilltop HS), Elisa Martinez (El Cajon/Univ. of Sioux Falls/Francis Parker School), Jordyn McNutt (San Diego/University City HS), Katie O'Laughlin(Carlsbad/Pacific Ridge School), Taylor Ramos (San Diego/Coronado HS), Mary Reilly (Chula Vista/Hilltop HS) and Natalie Saddic (San Diego/UC Davis/Torrey Pines HS) ... Kristin Jones, a two-time national champion and All-American as one of the greatest players to ever come through the storied UCSD program, is in her second year as associate head coach and her 17th straight as a Triton, having joined Brian McManus' staff immediately upon graduating.
CCAA FORMAT UNCHANGED
For the third year in a row, the CCAA slate consists of a single round robin, with all teams facing off once against each other for 12 matches total, and the top six sides (based on most points; three for a league win, one for a tie) in the final regular-season standings qualifying for the 2016 CCAA Tournament. Cal State San Marcos, a new addition in 2015, is ineligible again this time around. First-round matchups will take place on the campuses of the No. 3 and No. 4 seeds on Tuesday, Nov. 1. The semifinals and final will be hosted by Stanislaus State for the sixth time in the last eight years, at Warrior Stadium in Turlock, Nov. 4-6.
HEAD COACH BRIAN McMANUS
Brian McManus is in his milestone 30th season in charge of the UC San Diego women's soccer program. With a career record of 479-87-51, he has achieved the most wins in NCAA Division II women's soccer history, and tied for fourth-most for all divisions. McManus' career winning percentage of .816 heading into 2016 ranked among the top 10 in college women's soccer annals, both overall (No. 10) and Division II only (No. 4). He was also third in win percentage among active Division II coaches. McManus has directed UCSD to seven national titles and a record nine CCAA banners, with the Tritons advancing to the national semifinals a remarkable 15 times in his 29 years. Under his guidance, UCSD has qualified for the NCAA Championship all 13 seasons during the Division III days, and all but three (2004, 2013-14) of 16 years since the move up to Division II. McManus' Tritons have missed the CCAA Tournament just once in 2013, having earned 13 straight berths after joining the conference.
ABOUT THE COYOTES
Cal State San Bernardino (8-5-1, 7-2-1 CCAA) has the league's second-best active win streak behind UCSD, at six, and is an unbeaten 7-0-1 over its last eight. The Coyotes have produced three straight 1-0 victories, and are 5-2-1 at home. LeBaron Hollimon is the Coyotes' second-year head coach.
SERIES HISTORY
UCSD has largely dominated the all-time series at 32-6-6, though it suffered a tough 3-2 overtime defeat to the Coyotes last Sept. 20 in La Jolla. The Tritons rallied from 2-0 down in that one with goals by Maxia Espino and Summer Bales over the last 15:49 of regulation, only to allow a Denae Verdine goal at the 97:00 mark. They previously upset then-eighth-ranked CSUSB, 1-0, in La Jolla on Oct. 3, 2014. That result marked the Coyotes' first loss of 2014 after nine straight wins to open, with Cassie Callahan tapping 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 1-0 overtime win 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.
ABOUT THE BRONCOS
Cal Poly Pomona (7-5-2, 6-3-1 CCAA) has won four of its last five, including a pair of shutout victories on the road last weekend 2-0 at Cal State LA on Friday and 1-0 at Cal State Dominguez Hills on Sunday. The Broncos are 2-2-2 in Pomona, and host Cal State San Marcos on Thursday at 12:30 p.m. before welcoming in the Tritons on Senior Day on Saturday. Junior Ricki Ives (1.09 GAA, 46 saves) has played every minute in goal for CPP. Jay Mason is in his first season as the Broncos' head coach.
SERIES HISTORY
UCSD leads the all-time series, 34-13-4. CPP won the regular-season matchup last year, 3-2 in overtime, in La Jolla on Sept. 18, rallying from a 2-0 deficit. The Tritons then raced past the Broncos in the first round of the CCAA Tournament, 4-0, also in La Jolla, on Nov. 4. UCSD dropped both meetings in 2014, 1-0 at home 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.
TRITONS IN THE MEDIA
A selection of features on the UC San Diego women's soccer program from this season:
• O'Laughlin in San Diego Union-Tribune (10/4/16)
• Tritons in HERO Sports News (10/4/16)
• McManus in GoalNation (8/12/16)
• McManus in HERO Sports News (7/30/16)
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 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 (#AllForOne)
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UP NEXT
The Tritons will fly to Northern California for a third time this season next Wednesday, Nov. 2, headed back to Turlock. They will open defense of their record ninth CCAA Tournament banner on Friday, Nov. 4, with their semifinal opponent yet to be determined, as is the kickoff time.
#AllForOne
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