LA JOLLA, Calif. - With Annette Ilg active in the offense
once again and Alyssa Newcomer adding a late score, the No. 20 UC San Diego
women's soccer team used a strong second half to defeat Notre Dame de Namur 2-0
on Saturday. In the season's first two games, the Tritons (2-0-0) have
outscored their opponents 8-0. The Argonauts fall to 0-2-0 after the loss.
Despite a slow start for both teams in the first half, the UCSD offense came
alive in the second half with Ilg recording her third goal of 2010 at the 63:37
mark. Newcomer, a sophomore from Aliso Viejo, Calif., notched her third career
score in the 71st minute. Kristin Armstrong posted her seventh career shutout in
net and Ellen Wilson contributed a spectacular performance at the center back
position.
"The difference in the halves," Tritons' head coach Brian McManus said, "was
that we weren't prepared in the first and we didn't come out believing that
this team was going to come at us. We got it straightened out in the second
half."
The two squads combined for just nine shots in the first 45 minutes, with the
best chances coming in the final minute from the Argonauts' attack. With 26
seconds left until halftime, Alexis Tershay slipped a pass to the right for
K.C. O'Shea, who ripped a shot that was batted out of play by Armstrong. On the
resulting corner kick, Tershay got the ball settled at her feet and hooked a
shot toward the upper right corner of the net. Armstrong jumped and controlled
it, keeping the NDNU momentum in check as the teams took their break.
In the 64th minute, UCSD junior Anne Wethe played the ball up toward the
Argonauts' box. NDNU goalkeeper Kelsey Baxter rushed out to grab it but the
ball bounced slowly enough that a rushing Ilg disrupted Baxter's rhythm as she
tried to reach out. The ball caromed away, Ilg retrieved it and calmly lined a
shot past a sliding defender as the Tritons took a 1-0 lead.
In another dangerous play for Baxter seven minutes later, a cross from Lisa
Bradley on the right side deflected out of the keeper's hands. Newcomer took
advantage of the opportunity, controlling the ball and blasting it inside the
top of the net for a 2-0 UCSD advantage.
"[Newcomer's] a kid that wants to play all the time and she gives up on
nothing," McManus said. "She went after two balls in the second half and made
something of nothing, really."
Armstrong totaled three saves on the night en route to the team's
second-straight shutout to open 2010. Wilson is the only UCSD player to have
played all 180 minutes of the two first matches.
The Tritons open California Collegiate Athletic Association play next weekend,
hosting two tough South Division rivals. On Friday, No. 14 Cal State L.A. comes
to La Jolla and No. 4 Cal State Dominguez Hills will visit Sunday.
