Capobianco finding her way at UC San Diego

Courtney Capobianco went from a seldom-used player to one who made a big difference last weekend for the UC San Diego women’s soccer team.

The 2008 Laguna Beach High grad, who left the Breakers girls’ soccer program as the second-leading scorer in the history, played sparingly for the Tritons throughout the regular season, appearing in 11 of 19 games. But at last weekend’s California Collegiate Athletic Assn. (CCAA) Championship Tournament hosted by UC San Diego, Capobianco “” a freshman midfielder “” replaced injured junior Alexia Zatarain and converted a penalty kick during an overtime shootout that helped the Tritons score a semifinal victory Saturday over San Francisco State.

Capobianco then went on to start Sunday’s title game against Cal State Dominguez where she scored her first collegiate goal, which turned out to be the game-winner as the Tritons pulled out a 3-2 victory that secured their seventh conference title in nine years.

She went on to be named to the all-tournament team.

UC San Diego, 14-3-4 after the conference tournament, is in Seattle competing at the NCAA Division II West Regional tournament.

“” Mike Sciacca