First Half Lead Can't Hold Up, Tritons Fall at Cal - UC San Diego (2024)

BERKELEY, Calif. – UC San Diego took a first half lead but a pair of second half goals propelled host California to a 2-1 victory over the Tritons in women's soccer action Thursday afternoon at Edwards Stadium in the season opener for both sides. UC San Diego captain Courtney Hilliard scored the lone Triton goal in the 34th minute.

Karlie Lema scored twice in the second half for the Golden Bears in the win.

HOW IT HAPPENED
California earned the match's first corner kick in the 19th minute, but UC San Diego crowded the box and prevented the Golden Bears from getting a shot out of that possession. Two and a half minutes later, the Tritons had a scoring chance on the other end. Junior Lindsey Park redirected a ball with a header straight on, but Cal goalkeeper Teagan Wy made the stop waist-high to keep the match scoreless.

California earned a free kick in the 27th minute, but Julia Leontini's shot was wide of the net. Moments later, UC San Diego turned it over creating a great scoring chance for the Golden Bears. Karlie Lema fired a shot low-center, and new Triton goalkeeper Ginny Fronk made a terrific save. Fronk, a sophom*ore, made two first half saves.

In the 33', sophom*ore Alexis Nguyen raced up the left wing and fired into the box towards senior Raquel Kalpakoff, who had just entered the match. Her one-timer was stopped. UC San Diego earned its first corner of the new season in the 34th minute. The Tritons played it short before sophom*ore Ellie Trevino lobbed it in, and senior captain Courtney Hilliard used a header to send the ball into the back of the net and put the visitors on top.

34' | ?? COURT HEADER OFF A CORNER!! ??

Tritons 1-0 Cal#HeresToIt x #GoTritons pic.twitter.com/RbVoXBdp7C

— UCSD Women's Soccer (@UCSDwsoc) August 15, 2024

Cal out-shot UC San Diego, 6-3, over the first 45 minutes, with each keeper making a pair of saves.

In the 50th minute, the Golden Bears tied the match on a goal by Lema. Cal applied pressure in the ensuing minutes, but Fronk made a save and a deflection and the Triton defense prevented the Bears from getting a good look off a corner kick in the 55th minute of play.

UC San Diego looked to regain the lead with back-to-back corner kicks in the 65th minute, but the Tritons were unable to get a shot. Cal regained possession and had a breakaway near midfield when Park was whistled for a yellow card to quell the Golden Bears' momentum.

Cal continued to apply pressure and Lema broke through in the 81st minute for her second score of the match to lift the home team to the opening day win.

TRITON TIDBITS

• The goal by Courtney Hilliard in the 34th minute was the fifth of her UC San Diego career. Ellie Trevino notched her first career helper.
• Playing her first match for the Blue and Gold, UC San Diego sophom*ore goalkeeper Ginny Fronk made six saves.
• The Tritons had five corner kicks to Cal's three.
• California is UC San Diego's first Atlantic Coast Conference opponent since the Tritons moved to NCAA Division I in 2020.
• Thursday's match resembled the 2022 meeting between these sides in Berkeley. In that match, UC San Diego scored early but Cal scored twice – including the game-winner late – for a 2-1 Golden Bears win.
• The Tritons debuted their new white kits Thursday afternoon with Fronk in baby blue.

QUOTABLE
"I'm extremely proud of effort today," said UC San Diego head coach Kristin Jones '04 following the match. "We talked at halftime [when UC San Diego was leading] about how there were two ways they could beat us: our mistakes and giving Lema space. While the result was disappointing, there's so much we can build upon. We had a lot of good moments today and we have to find ways to have more of those over the course of a game."

UP NEXT
UC San Diego concludes its Bay Area weekend Sunday afternoon when the Tritons visit San Francisco. Sunday's match kicks at 4 p.m. and will air live on ESPN+ with live stats on UCSDTritons.com.

About UC San Diego Athletics
After two decades as one of the most successfulprograms inNCAA Division II, the UC San Diego intercollegiate athletics program began a new era in 2020 as amember of The Big West inNCAA Division I. The 23-sport Tritons earned 30 team and nearly 150 individual national championships during its time in DivisionsIIand III and helped guide1,400 scholar-athletes to All-America honors. A total of 84 Tritons have earned Academic All-America honors, while 38have earned prestigious NCAA Post Graduate Scholarships. UC San Diego scholar-athletes exemplify the academic ideals of one of the world's preeminent institutions, graduating at an average rate of 91 percent, one of the highest rates among institutions at all divisions.