UCSD Men Rally Twice for 2-2 Road Draw

October 16, 2015

ARCATA, Calif. - UC San Diego twice fought back from one-goal deficits to draw 2-2 through double overtime with Humboldt State in California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) men's soccer action at College Creek Field on Friday afternoon.

The result was an exact repeat of a year ago, when the Tritons likewise trailed twice en route to salvaging a 2-2 tie with the Jacks in Arcata. This one was slightly more damaging, however, as HSU lies in last place in the standings. UCSD moved to 5-4-5 overall and 4-2-3 in the CCAA. The Jacks are 1-8-2 overall and 0-5-2 in league play.

Both Triton goals came from penalty kicks, as UCSD has now earned a pretty remarkable six spot kicks this season, converting four of them. Five different Tritons have taken one.

Brandon Monteiro Magpayo stepped up for his first collegiate penalty kick and made no mistake, notching his team-best third goal of the season, all coming over the last three contests, for 1-1 at 63:09 after a Humboldt foul. Junior Sam Palano took care of the other one, scoring his first goal of 2015 for 2-2 at 82:06 following a hand ball.

Trice Smith and Daniel Allred registered the Humboldt State goals in the 34th and 79th minutes, respectively, each finding the back of the opposing net for the first time this year. Smith headed in a Riki Michael cross, with Allred scoring unassisted off a poor defensive clearance. UCSD played a man up for the final 6:09 of the second overtime session after Braxton Griffin was shown a red card.

Redshirt junior Cameron McElfresh came up with four saves for UCSD, arguably the best of them coming late in the first overtime period when he jumped high to barely tip Allred's right-footed blast from around 25 yards up and over the crossbar for a corner kick. Counterpart Christopher Cherms had three stops in between the HSU pipes. The Jacks held a 12-9 edge in shots.

UCSD had an early chance to open the scoring in the 16th minute, but junior winger Justice Duerksen had his attempt denied by the crossbar.

"It was a hard-fought game against a good team that is much better than their record," said UCSD head coach Jon Pascale. "Our guys showed a lot of character coming from behind twice in the match. We are looking to regroup and get ready for another good team on Sunday."

UCSD remained an unbeaten 4-0-6 in 10 all-time meetings between the sides. All four matchups in Arcata have ended in deadlocks, in 2007 (0-0) and 2010 (1-1), prior to the latest back-to-back 2-2 affairs in 2014 and now 2015.

UCSD plays at Sonoma State (7-4-2, 3-3-1 CCAA) this Sunday, Oct. 18. Kickoff at Seawolf Soccer Field in Rohnert Park is set for 11:30 a.m.

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