Competition Dance

The UCSD competition dance team took its routine to UC Irvine March 10 for the Cheerleaders of American West Coast Championships.

The team, competing for the first time at the championships and in its last event of the season, faced six other college and all-star teams in the college dance division. Behind a strong routine choreographed by co-captains Kanchan Dudani and Natalie Adcock, the UCSD competition dance team took top honors and grabbed the COA West Coast Championship title.

Triathlon

Triathlon has started its 2002 season with the Cal Poly San Luis Obispo Warm-Up Triathlon.

UCSD Triathletes Brendan O’Brien, Jason Kissel, Jeff Owen and Eric Kendall took second, sixth, 18th and 20th, respectively, out of 73 total male athletes. For the women, Gaylen Hafner, Laura Blevins and Anne Spohr took 15th, 16th and 17th, respectively, out of 58 female athletes. Overall, UCSD finished fourth out of seven teams, placing behind UC Santa Barbara, UC Berkeley and Stanford.

Men’s Rugby

The season for UCSD men’s rugby did not end on a particularly high note. Losses on the road this weekend to both University of Arizona and University of San Diego dropped the Triton record to 2-6 on the season.

Friday’s match against the Arizona Wildcats was a disastrous affair for the UCSD team. Arizona won by the largest point margin in UCSD recorded point history, 101-3. The Wildcats had 17 tries versus a lone penalty kick by Nick Polsky for the Tritons.

Sunday’s game against USD was not much better. USD came out strong in the first half and went on a 20-0 run. Throughout the rest of the game, UCSD fared no better when the game ended in a 48-5 USD victory.

Men’s Lacrosse

During its first National Collegiate Lacrosse Showcase, the UCSD men’s lacrosse team faced its season’s toughest opponent. In the culminating game of the showcase, UCSD took on the defending national champions and current No. 1 Colorado State. UCSD took it hard to CSU and almost pulled off the biggest upset in UCSD lacrosse history.

UCSD came to the game pumped and ready for a challenge, despite already having the disadvantage of losing two starters earlier in the weekend. CSU, expecting an easy win, started the game with a lineup consisting entirely of second-string players. Many of the team’s usual starters hadn’t even suited up for the game.

However, CSU was in for a surprise because UCSD dominated the field for the entire first half. Arjun Maldonado fired in UCSD’s first goal and CSU goalie Kevin Krcek was hard-pressed to stop the rest of the UCSD offensive attack. The second quarter opened things up for UCSD when consistent ball movement paved the way for two consecutive goals by Fonz Ikeda, assisted by Matt LaFiandra and Michael Hunter.

Staring down a three-goal deficit, CSU started to wake up. Goals by midfielder Ryan Davis and freshman star Tim Farquhar took CSU up to 3-2.

As transitioning athletes became crucial later in the game, UCSD started to tire, while CSU continued to fire in fresh athletes. Phil Smith shot home two more goals for UCSD, aided once again by Hunter, but CSU answered with two more of its own. UCSD closed the third with a hat trick by Maldonado and another goal by LaFiandra.

CSU owned the fourth quarter. Attackman Mike Napolilli fired home one goal on a man-up situation and assisted another to tie up the game. UCSD goalie Jake Lowenstein, making clutch saves left and right, kept UCSD strong to take the game to sudden-death overtime.

In overtime, CSU recovered a turnover from a tired UCSD team because CSU defenseman Matt Plonky forced the ball loose and Farquhar once again found himself in possession. He fired it home for an 8-7 OT win for CSU.

Equestrian

March 10 marked the Regional Finals competition for the UCSD equestrian team. UCSD riders competing in the regional finals included captains Lisa Calvino and Stacy Sakai, as well as Zoe Jarocki and Morgan Messing.

Calvino took a second-place finish in open fences, which was followed by a first in intermediate flat for Sakai. These respective finishes were high enough to advance both riders to the zone finals for their divisions. In novice flat, Messing and Jarocki took third and fourth, respectively.

Upcoming

Friday, March 15

Ice hockey plays SDSU at UTC at 10:15 p.m.

Men’s lacrosse takes on UCLA at RIMAC field at 7 p.m.

Saturday, March 16

Cycling has a two-day event at UCLA.

Equestrian travels to Cal Poly Pomona for regionals.

Women’s rugby has its Champagne Classic Tourney on Saturday and Sunday at UCSD.

–Compiled by Isaac Pearlman

Sports Editor