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Captain
Brian Yip

Captain
Jake Larivie

Upcoming Events

Oct 11, 2008

vs. SDSU

SDSU - 7PM

Oct 12, 2008

vs. CSUN

Warren Field - 3PM

Oct 18, 2008

vs. USC

USC - Evening

Message from the Captains

August 20, 2008

The following players still have not paid dues. Failure to do so will result in a hold on your grades.

Phillip Bush, Aaron Bisley, Edgar Lozano, Norman Pitt, Evan Cook, Jake Larivie, Carlos Ordaz, Moses Herrera, Elmer Flores, Jonathan Rodriguez

UCSD Men’s Club Soccer Competes in California Collegiate Club Soccer League Championships

Monday, April 28, 2008

This past weekend was blistering hot, but it wasn't just the weather that was scorching. UC San Diego Men's Club Soccer Team blazed through Saturday's matches, with a resounding 2 wins and 1 tie; within their bracket to move on to the Semi's and Championship round Sunday morning. Unfortunately, UCSD was only able to place 2nd (out of 16 teams entered in the tournament), losing in overtime to UCR after their starting keeper had to leave for work. This tournament was UCSD's debut back into the competitive California Collegiate Club Soccer League.

They started off Saturday morning in what the captains worried would be a long and hard battle to win back the respect of the other teams from previous years’ performance. Drawing the hardest bracket, Norman Pitt who is out for the season with a back injury, decided to change the team’s formation to a 4-5-1. Playing with this formation for the first time worked surprisingly well, as the end result was a 0-0 draw. The second game against NAU was no contest with goals from Moses Hererra, Sammy Wu, and Thomas Pham. Evan, the keeper, also had an amazing game with multiple diving saves. At one point off a corner, the ball was bouncing around in the goal but luckily there were 4 consecutive saves as the ball bounced from the left post, saved by Brian Yip, then saved blocked by Evan, then bounced off the right post, then saved by Ryan, then deflected by Evan again before being cleared by another player. UC San Diego was about to end the game with a shutout, but in a move to give their starters a rest, the minute after Ryan Tung, the team sweeper, was subbed out, NAU broke free from the defense on a counter to score their only goal for the game. The final game for Saturday was against the brutal USC team. They weren't brutal because of their amazing soccer technique, but because of their brutal American football styled game. It was a hard fought game as USC and UCSD battled it out. As luck would have it, the referees were not any help in controlling the game and even gave Carlos Ordaz a yellow card for telling the referee to control the game and that a yellow was needed for either team. Luckily in the final minutes of the game Joe Shah was able to dribble through a few defenders and poked the ball past the keeper for a much needed and deserved win over USC.

The big day of Semi-finals and Championship, UCSD's draw had them playing the very well respected UCLA Men’s Club Soccer Team. This game was much better than the USC game, and finally we could see the "most beautiful game" being played. Both teams were doing well, possessing, moving, and passing. When it was looking like the team would move into overtime, UCSD drew a lucky break as one of the defenders unluckily handled the ball, resulting in a Penalty Kick for UCSD. And without a doubt, Sammy took the kick and put the ball in the back of the net to seal the game so that UCSD would be moving to the Championship round. Finally, UC San Diego Men's Club Soccer team, in the UC Irvine Tournament Championship game against UC Riverside. It was clear from the beginning of the game that UCSD was dominating, possessing the ball 90% of the game as UC Riverside was much more tired. But coming out hard, and with significantly better technique than UC Riverside, did not help UC San Diego as the scored remained 0-0 throughout the game. Regular time ended, and with that was the departure of Evan Cook, the starting keeper as he had to rush back for work. Not having any replacement keeper, Jake LaRivere, took it upon himself for the two 10 minute golden goal overtime halves. It looked like UC San Diego was going to continue dominating the pitch, but on a counter off a UCR throw-in, UC Riverside was able to beat the two defenders and toe poke the ball past our keeper for the win and left UCSD with the "UC Irvine Anteater Tournament Runner-Up."

It was quite a depressing way to end the weekend of what appeared to be the rebirth of UCSD's competitive dominance on the pitch. But hope resonated from each player, knowing that not only were they able to hang with the best teams in California Collegiate Club Soccer, but that they were a dominant force on the pitch, not to be overlooked anymore in the future.

More Headlines:
Apr 14 - Triton Men’s Soccer Hosts Weekend Tournament
Mar 11 - Men's Soccer Upset by SDSU
Nov 6 - Men's Soccer Wins Physical Game Against SDSU
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