LA JOLLA, Calif. - The UC San Diego men's soccer team picked up its first victory of the season Saturday night with a 2-0 blanking of Academy of Art at Triton Soccer Field.

UCSD improved to 1-1-0 on the young season while the Academy of Art dropped to 0-1-1.

Sophomore midfielder Jacob Valadez blasted a hook shot from 25 yards out that found the net from a tough angle, putting the Tritons up 1-0 with 18 minutes remaining in the first half.

With much physical play in the second half, junior Padraig Buckley converted the Tritons' second goal off a free kick. Classmate Ian MacAuley chipped the ball to Buckley, who went up in traffic to knock the header in and get the insurance goal.

"It was great to get that first win," said head coach Jon Pascale. "We've been working hard for two weeks and were pretty disappointed by Thursday's results (a 2-0 loss vs. Cal Baptist). But we got right back to business and didn't wallow in the loss. We try to take it one day, one practice, one game at a time and when we hit the field tonight, Thursday was far out of our minds and it showed."

UC San Diego will enter conference play next week as the Tritons host San Francisco State on Friday, Sept. 7 (4:30 p.m.) and Cal Poly Pomona on Sunday, Sept. 9 (noon) at Triton Soccer Field.

-- UCSDtritons.com --