WATER POLO — Hopes of winning the Western Water Polo
Association Championship were alive for the No. 16 Tritons until the final
seconds of their contest against No. 12 Loyola Marymount University in the WWPA
Semifinal game on April 26. The Tritons fought from a 4-1 deficit in the fourth
quarter only to fall one goal short in a 4-3 loss to the Lions after they
advanced to the semifinals with an 8-6 win over
on April 25. After the tough loss, the Tritons bounced back to take third place
in the tournament by beating Santa Clara University 8-7 with a tiebreaking goal
in the game’s final second on April 27 to end their season.
UCSD’s defense was tough against LMU, as the Tritons played
the Lions for the second time in the last two weeks. While the matchup on April
12 resulted in a 9-7 win by the Tritons, this game featured fewer goals and
many more defensive stops from both teams.
“We didn’t have the offense going for us this game that we
had two weeks ago,” senior utility Nicole Hermann said. “We didn’t take as many
shots so we didn’t have as many offensive opportunities.”
The Lions started off the scoring early on in the first
period, slipping a shot past senior goalkeeper Kim Hockett for the first score
of the game. The rest of the quarter went by scoreless as each team’s defense
took control.
UCSD got on the board with
left in the second period when senior attacker Elizabeth Hahn scored for the
Tritons to tie the game at one. The Lions added another goal before the break
to take a 2-1 lead into halftime.
Down only
the Tritons had a good chance to tie up the game with their defense shutting
out the Lions for the entire third period. Unfortunately, UCSD’s offense
continued to struggle against LMU’s defense and the third period went by
scoreless.
The Tritons did not begin the final period well, quickly
seeing their one-goal deficit turn into a three-goal hole after the Lions
scored twice in the first two minutes of the fourth quarter. With six minutes
left, UCSD’s offense finally showed up as junior attacker Sydney Gstettenbauer
scored a 6-on-5 goal with
in regulation. The Tritons took advantage of another defensive miscue for their
second goal of the quarter, as Gstettenbauer converted on a five-meter penalty
shot with
lead to 4-3.
“We became more aggressive at the end of the game,” head
coach Larry Sanders said. “If we had done that throughout the game, we would
have had a better chance at winning.”
The Lions pressed hard to keep the Tritons from completing a
comeback, as their defense helped hold on to the one-point lead to send the
Lions to their eighth straight WWPA Championship.
“We’ve proven that we can play with anyone defensively,”
Sanders said. “Offensively in this game, we only shot the ball 16 times — about
half of our normal amount. We need to be more aggressive of offense and that’s
something that we’re going to work on in the offseason.”
The Tritons were able to play in the semifinal against LMU
because of their victory over
their second game of the day, the Seawolves opened up the scoring with a goal
in the first period. Gstettenbauer answered for the Tritons, tying the game up
at 1-1 with
period.
UCSD had a strong second quarter, building a 4-1 lead, but
the Seawolves rallied back for a goal at the end of the half and another to
open up the third quarter, cutting the lead to 4-3.
Senior two-meter Judy Emaus added a score for the Tritons
early in the third quarter to extend their lead to 5-3. After
cut the lead to 5-4, the Tritons took control of the game with back-to-back
scores that sealed the victory.
Gstettenbauer led the Tritons offensively with four scores
and Hockett protected the goal with 11 saves.
“
got a lot better throughout the season and we were able to shut them down and
get ready to play against LMU,” Hermann said.
