Club Sports — UCSD returned home to mixed results on Jan. 25
and 26 against UC Irvine and Fresno State
after successful matches against Loyola
Marymount University
and University of the Redlands on
Jan. 18 and 19. The Tritons fell for the second time this season to UC Irvine
on Jan. 25 by a score of 6-3, but bounced back against Fresno
State with a 13-2 blowout victory
the following evening at UTC Ice
Town.

In the Tritons’ match against Fresno
State, UCSD took advantage of its
first power play of the night, scoring an early goal to take a 1-0 lead.
Minutes later, a slapshot from junior forward Troy Miller put UCSD up 2-0.

The UCSD ice hockey team fell for the second time this season to UC Irvine on Jan. 25, but bounced back the next evening against Fresno State, scoring early and often to trounce the Bulldogs 13-2. (Sanh Luong/Guardian)

The Tritons controlled the puck and kept play in the
Bulldogs’ zone for much of the first period. On one rare occasion, Fresno
State pushed play through the
neutral zone and the Bulldogs scored a goal to cut the Tritons’ lead to 2-1.
But junior forward Chris Bachman responded with another goal for the Tritons,
putting them up 3-1 at intermission.

Within the first minute of the second period, the Tritons
scored another goal. Then, with 17:45
left in the period, freshman forward Stephen Lockwood broke away and slipped
the puck past the hapless Bulldog goalkeeper to put the Tritons up by four.

The Bulldogs, who played defensively for most of the game,
finally answered back with a goal to cut the Tritons’ lead to 5-2 with 11:21 left in the second period. However,
Bachman banged a shot into the high corner of the goal before sophomore forward
Michael Frederick passed the puck to sophomore forward Casey Gong, who scored
another goal to give the Tritons two quick scores and a 7-2 lead. UCSD added
two more scores in the period to take a 9-2 lead going into the break.

With the game out of reach for the Bulldogs, UCSD continued
its onslaught, adding four more goals in the final period, including scores
from Gong, Miller and senior forward Tim Armstrong.

The Tritons wanted to atone for their previous loss, and
their merciless and unified play gave the Bulldogs a long and sad ride home.

“After a so-so game [the night before] we came out strong
tonight,” freshman defenseman Will Cho said. “Our team banded together and we
weren’t selfish.”

The win came after the Tritons took a tough 6-3 loss to UC
Irvine one night earlier. The Tritons struggled for much of that game, digging
themselves into a 6-1 hole after two periods. It didn’t help that they racked
up an unusually high amount of penalty
minutes.

“The first two periods of the game, we were in the [penalty]
box the whole time,” junior defenseman Matthew Robinson said.

Not willing to leave without a fight, the Tritons outscored
the Anteaters 2-0 in the third period, but by then it was too little, too late
and UC Irvine took the victory.

“We lost focus,” Cho said. “We could blame the referees for
the loss but we’ve got to play the game better.”

Now with a 9-6 record, the Tritons have three more games
left in the regular season. UCSD will face Cal State Northridge on Feb. 2 and Sacramento
State on Feb. 8, and will finish
its schedule against UC Davis on Feb. 9. All three games are at home and the
Tritons are confident that their history with their opponents will lift them to
much-needed victory.

“We’ve beaten two out of the three teams that we’re playing
this season,” Robinson said. “We need to win the next three games.”