SAN DIEGO — Maronne Suzuki and
Bella Piete teamed up for a pair of goals on Thursday night at Torero Stadium, lifting San Diego women's soccer (1-0) to a 2-1 victory over Cal State Fullerton (0-1) in its first match of the 2021 season.
"I'm very proud of this group," head coach
Louise Lieberman said after full time was reached. "As a team, as a whole, everyone dug deep, found a way, a slide tackle, a pinky toe on the ball if they had to…really proud of the grit tonight."
Suzuki's strike came at the 6:44 mark in the first half, shooting the ball into the low left side of the net to give her team a 1-0 advantage early on.
"I'm just so happy she got on the board," the fifth-year head coach said of her midfielder. "She shoots and scores in practice all the time, so for her to get that reward tonight is phenomenal."
After ceding their one-goal lead at the 21:54 mark in the first half when Fullerton's Meghan Schroh scored to the high right section of the net and knotted the score at 1-1, San Diego answered back. Freshman
Bella Piete came up big in her first college match, kicking in a masterful assist from fellow first-year
Lexi Nobles to put USD ahead 2-1. Nobles dribbled the ball down the sideline before shooting a lengthy pass across the field to the waiting Piete, who was ready in front of the goal for the putback and the score.
"Some youngsters were out here doing some really amazing things at a really high level," Lieberman said of her freshman tandem, whose goal sealed the win for the Toreros. "It was big-time, and so much fun."
San Diego matched the Titans with 14 total shots, putting five on goal. Goalkeeper
Ellyn Casto largely locked things down on defense and notched six saves, including a clutch four of them in the game's final period.
Minutes after a successful first match of the season for her team had concluded, one that was played in front of a lively full-capacity crowd for the first time in more than a year, Lieberman reflected.
"The future is bright," she added. "The future is bright because of the type of people we have here…the talent, of course, but because of the type of people we have here."
