LOS ANGELES – Cal State L.A.'s women's soccer team put up a battle, but still fell short against one of the top-ranked teams in the NCAA Division II.

 

The Golden Eagles created some chances, but couldn't find the back of the net and fell to No. 6 UC San Diego, 1-0, Friday night in a California Collegiate Athletic Association match at Jesse Owens Track. Cal State L.A. (7-5-1, 4-4-1 CCAA) allowed a goal for the first time in four games and it was enough to snap their unbeaten string at three matches.

 

UC San Diego (11-1-1, 8-1-1 CCAA) got the game's only goal in the 41^st minute of the first half. Amanda Esquivel took a hard shot that was saved by Cal State L.A. goalie Reyna Coca. The rebound, though, bounded away and Ali Lai was there to knock it into an empty net for the game's only goal.

 

Cal State L.A. had a slim 9-8 advantage in shots. Jessica McGovern made three saves for the Tritons, while Coca made three saves for the Golden Eagles. UC San Diego had a 7-3 advantage in corner kicks.

 

Cal State L.A. freshman Dana Menard had three scoring chances in the first half. She sent a hard shot wide just eight minutes into the game and also deflected a shot in front that McGovern was able to knock away to set up a Cal State L.A. corner kick. Khadijah Greenwood also had a strong chance in the first half, but her shot from in the box went wide.

 

UC San Diego took advantage of its big chance in the first half when Lai was able to knock in the rebound of Esquivel's shot.

 

The Tritons almost took a 2-0 lead in the 53^rd minute when a header in the box by Kelly Mayo bounced hard off the crossbar and was cleared away.

 

McGovern made a nice save on a quality chance by Cal State L.A.'s Christine Duff in the 62^nd minute and Lai got off a strong shot that was saved by Coca in the 65^th minute.

 

Cal State L.A. had two quality chances in the final 20 minutes. Amber de Seriere took a hard shot that McGovern was just able to get a piece of for a corner kick. Liz Franco had a good chance sail just wide of the goal for the Golden Eagles' final opportunity.

Cal State L.A. will return to action on Sunday with a conference home game against Cal State Dominguez Hills.