LA JOLLA, Calif. - The UC San Diego women's soccer team, making its ninth appearance in the NCAA Division II Championships, must first play the waiting game before stepping out onto the field for the 2009 postseason. The Tritons (14-5-1), earning a bye with the West Region's second seed, will play host to a match Thursday between Seattle Pacific (16-3-1) and Chico State (8-5-8) before taking on the winner Saturday on the same Triton Soccer Field.
The UCSD squad last hosted West Region tournament play in 2006, defeating Western Washington and SPU at home before dropping a 2-0 quarterfinal decision to Metro State in Denver. The Tritons have qualified for the NCAA Tournament 23 out of the last 24 years and have won seven national titles during that span. UCSD's last national championship came in 2001, when UCSD won back-to-back titles in the program's first two seasons at the D-II level.
In 2009, top-seeded Cal State L.A. will host the opposite side of the regional bracket as Dixie State challenges Cal State Dominguez Hills for the chance to upset the Golden Eagles. Thursday's 7 p.m. match in La Jolla between the Falcons of SPU and the Wildcats of CSUC will the second meeting of the season for the two squads. On Sept. 8, the Falcons edged the Wildcats 1-0. SPU secured the Great Northwest Athletic Conference title while CSUC concluded the regular season as the best team in the California Collegiate Athletic Association North Division.
Anticipating Saturday's 7 p.m. second-round match, the Tritons will be playing on eight days of rest since falling in the CCAA Championships to CSUDH. The two teams played to a 1-1 draw through 90 minutes and two overtimes but the Toros pulled out the victory with a 5-3 penalty kick shootout. The UCSD squad, equally strong on offense and defense, finished second in the CCAA in goals scored (38) and goals allowed (14).
Although the Falcons and Wildcats possess young starting lineups, it's hard to find a roster undergoing as dramatic of a youth movement as the one Tritons' head coach Brian McManus is enacting currently. With freshmen and sophomores filling 10 of its 11 starting spots, the playoff learning curve for UCSD's young players will be tested again Saturday.
This season the Tritons' lineup features five players with double-digit points. Shelby Wong, having knocked in a hat trick against Central Washington, leads with the way with six goals and five assists on the season. Freshman Jessica Wi, a member of the CCAA All-Tournament Team, ranks second on the team in points with four goals and six assists. In the annual conference honors announcement, Wi and Wong joined Sarah McTigue on the All-CCAA Second Team while Kristin Armstrong, Lisa Bradley and Anne Wethe were named to the First Team.
Defending national champion SPU is making its seventh straight NCAA postseason appearance this fall. The Tritons and Falcons have met on three occasions, all in second-round regional action. The most recent match between the two squads was on Nov. 15, 2008, on the SPU campus. The Falcons left victorious, 3-1, while outshooting the Tritons 26-6. In the 2006 tournament at UCSD, the Tritons topped the Falcons 3-0 behind goals from Caitlin Ryan, Megan Dickey and Kelly Cochran. The first-ever meeting between UCSD and SPU came on Nov. 12, 2005, a 2-0 Falcons' home win.
Making its fourth NCAA postseason appearance in the past six years, CSUC has yet to advance past the first round in its tournament history. In regards to a potential matchup on Saturday with UCSD, the Wildcats are 4-7 all-time against the Tritons. UCSD lost to CSUC on the road Sept. 20, 2-0, behind a pair of goals from Lisa Webster in a stretch of under two minutes. The Wildcats and Tritons have met twice in the CCAA Tournament, both UCSD wins, but never before in the NCAA postseason.
Based on the results this weekend on the campuses of UCSD and CSULA, the two winning teams from the West Region will meet at the site of the higher seed for a third-round clash on Nov. 19 with the victor advancing to the Nov. 21 quarterfinals.
