WALNUT CREEK, Calif. ? UC San Diego sophomore defender Jared Kukura was named the Brine/California Collegiate Athletic Association Men's Soccer Player of the Week for the week ending September 28, it was announced Monday by the conference office. Kukura helped the Tritons register a split against CCAA Southern Division Rivals Cal Poly Pomona and Cal State San Bernardino last week.

A strong presence on the backline all season long, Kukura has also come up with some big plays offensively for head coach Jon Pascale. One of those plays came Friday night when he netted the game winner in UCSD's 3-0 victory over visiting Cal Poly Pomona, slipping a header past the Bronco's keeper in the 30th minute. After senior forward Tony Fernandez's bicycle kick was punched out of the net, the ball hung in the air long enough for Kukura to get a head on it and knock it into the right side of the goal for the early 1-0 lead.

The San Diego native now has a pair of game winning goals on the season, a total that ranks second on the squad.

Defensively, Kurkura helped to limited CPP to just four shots on goal on the way to UCSD's fifth shutout of the season.

The Tritons will look to bounce back from a 3-0 defeat that came at the hands of CSUSB on Sunday when they return to action against Sonoma State Friday night.

Brine CCAA Men's Soccer Player of the Week:
Aug. 25-31: Ross Middlemiss (Sonoma State); Sept. 1-7: Kyle Holland (Cal State Dominguez Hills); Sept. 8-14: Obi Agwu (Cal State San Bernardino); Sept. 15-21: Evan Armstrong (Chico State); Sept. 22-28: Jared Kukura (UC San Diego).