BOX SCORE UC San Diego 2, Sonoma State 1 (2OT)

LA JOLLA, Calif- Down 1-0 early in the second half, Taylor Varnadore knotted the score with a goal at the 68th minute, but neither Sonoma State or UC San Diego would score again in regulation, forcing extra time. It wasn't until the second overtime that someone netted the golden goal, but it wouldn't go in favor of the Seawolves. Triton forward Evan Walker ended the match with a score at 105:36, giving UCSD the sudden 2-1 victory over SSU on Sunday afternoon in La Jolla.

The Seawolves, who led the CCAA North Division standings by two points over Chico State entering this weekend's play, fall to second place with a 8-4-2 mark in the CCAA (9-5-2 overall) and trail the Wildcats by three points (29-26) with two matches remaining. One of those two matches include a battle with Chico State, which could end up being the battle for the North Division crown in the regular season finale on Sunday in Rohnert Park. However, Sonoma State will have to face third-place Cal State Stanislaus on Friday, as the Warriors are just one point back of SSU in the standings with a 10-5-1 overall and 8-5-1 conference record (25 points).

It would go back-and-forth between both teams for the entire match, as the shots would end up being 12-12 at the end of the day. It was clearly a defensive battle in the opening period with only six combined shots by both squads (three apiece).

After a scoreless first half, UC San Diego would draw first blood. Just 4:45 into the second half, Cory Wolfrom took a pass from Sam Ball and netted the ball into the top right corner for the 1-0 lead.

Just under 20 minutes later, Varnadore would even the score at 1-1. It was the result of a Justin Ferreira shot that was saved by UCSD keeper Josh Cohen, but the shot bounced off the hands of Cohen and Varnadore was able to clean up the trash and send it home for his team-leading 12th goal of the season.

However, amidst the celebration, Sonoma State forward Jomed Tejan was issued a direct red card and the Seawolves were forced to play with 10 men on the field for the remainder of the match.

With the advantage, UC San Diego outshot Sonoma State 5-1 in the final 20 minutes of regulation, including a header attempt by Walker at 89:08 that was stopped by Sonoma State's Taylor Jones. The Tritons weren't able to score the game winner in regulation and the match went to overtime.

In the first OT, neither team would attempt a shot. It wasn't until the second OT that the shots came flying. The first two came rifling off the foot of Michel Arroyo -- one was saved by Cohen and the other sailed high. Walker would attempt a shot that went wide left and Nico Spann responded with an attempt that flew wide right.

Walker, who had fired the last two UCSD shots, finally connected. Andrew Keimach played the ball up to Walker and Walker beat Jones to the net for the game-winner at the 106th minute.

Arroyo led Sonoma State with three shots, while Ebby Lombardi, Trevor Hurst and Spann each attempted two. Jones made a pair of saves for the Seawolves.

UC San Diego's Wolfrom fired a match-high five shots while Walker attempted three, all of which came late in the match. Triton goalkeeper Josh Cohen made four stops.

Looking to qualify for the CCAA Championship Tournament for the eighth straight year (and 11th in the past 12 seasons), Sonoma State has no room for error next weekend when it hosts Cal State Stanislaus on Friday (12:30 p.m.) and archrival Chico State on Sunday (11:30 a.m.), both at the Seawolf Soccer Field.