This past weekend, the UCSD women’s club soccer team was one of 11 teams to travel north to UC Davis to participate in the National Intramural-Recreation Sports Association regional tournament.

The Tritons made it out of their bracket with a tie and a win over Stanford University. UCSD tied the Cardinal 2-2 in the first game but came roaring back in the second, blowing the Cardinal out 5-1. With the dominant win, the Tritons advanced to the quarterfinals but fell short against the host team, UC Davis, 2-0.

The Aggies wasted no time in getting on the board, scoring both of their goals in the first 15 minutes of the game.

To make matters worse, Triton sophomore defender Tia Baker was kicked in the mouth during a scramble for the ball and left the game.

Despite being down a player for the remaining 75 minutes, the Tritons prevented UC Davis from scoring. However, UCSD was forced to play defensively, and the team was held scoreless.

Junior co-captain defender Caitlin Schauer attributed the disappointing loss in part to losing Baker so early in the contest.

“We had beat UC Davis before, but we only had 10 players playing this game,” Schauer said. “I’m sure we could have beaten them if we had the whole team.”

Junior co-captain forward Nicki Theobald was proud of her team’s effort despite the mounting fatigue from playing so many games.

“I thought the team did great without subs,” Theobald said. “It was a good bonding experience between the girls who went.”

Unfortunately, because the Tritons finished fifth in the tournament, they were not able to qualify for the NIRSA nationals.

It was amazing that UCSD made it to the quarterfinals considering its shortage of players. Many of the players from the A team could not afford to go up to UC Davis because of classes and midterms, and the team did not even have adequate practice time before the tournament.

Schauer further explained the Tritons’ problems, citing inexperience as a limiting factor.

“We took eight players from the A team and three players from the B team,” Schauer said. “We did not have [someone who usually plays] goalie either. Most teams practice for months before for the regionals but we just had three weeks and one tournament to prepare.”

According to Theobald, the team started to really click and get together as the tournament progressed.

“All 11 players played amazing,” Theobald said. “They all played great.”

This season has been very frustating for the team because many schools have been unable to field teams. After the majority of the teams disbanded, the league was subsequently shut down, which prevented the Tritons from being able to defend their league title.

Although they won’t be headed to the NIRSA nationals this year, the Tritons will be going to tournaments and matches against other Southern California colleges.

The Tritons’ next games are at UC Irvine on Nov. 4-5, and they will also travel to UCLA in the winter for several games.