Coming off four consecutive West Coast Soccer Association victories, with an impressive 25 goals for and only 1 against, UC San Diego kicked off their title defense of the San Diego Cup against a short sided Point Loma Nazarene University (PLNU). A disciplined bunker defense and a few bouts of bad luck on behalf of the Tritons left the match scoreless at halftime despite the Triton’s’ dominant possession and several beautiful scoring opportunities. The second half, however, saw their effort quickly rewarded with a series of exceptional goals by seniors Shannon McAndrews and Monica Cuevas, junior Emma Schoenthal, and sophomore Lizzie Blackwell. With a final score of 4-0, UC San Diego moves to 5-0-0 overall in 2017 and find themselves well positioned going into the second leg of group stages in the tournament next week. They will play PLNU again on Sports Deck at 8:30pm on Wednesday, February 22nd.