CLUB SPORTS ‘mdash; A season filled with disappointments and unfortunate circumstances has fittingly ended in frustration for the UCSD club ice hockey team. College of the Canyons handed the Tritons an 11-5 defeat at UTC Ice Town on Jan. 24 one night after UCSD was shut out in a 12-0 loss to San Diego State University. The two losses came after a promising weekend in which the Tritons came out victorious against Cal State Sacramento on Jan. 16 and UC Davis on Jan. 17.
‘Coming into the final games, we were trying to play smart defense and not take too many penalties,’ junior captain Casey Gong said. ‘We had a couple players hurt and knew it was going to be tough.’
After the demoralizing loss to SDSU, the Tritons came out strong against College of the Canyons looking to finish the season on a high note. With 16:19 left in the first period, senior defender Jackson Gilmore got UCSD on the board first, breaking the scoreless streak that lasted throughout the Tritons’ game with the Aztecs. College of the Canyons answered back with a goal of their own and looked to take the lead on a breakaway, but junior goaltender Matt Hager preserved the tie with a solid save for the Tritons.
After UCSD took a 2-1 lead with seven minutes left to play in the first period, the Cougars racked up two quick goals to take a 3-2 lead and looked to add on at the end of the period. However, UCSD put together two timely stops in the last minute of the first to close out the period trailing by one.
The match began to unravel for the outnumbered UCSD players in the second period, as the Cougars scored a quick goal within the first two minutes to take a 4-2 lead, capitalizing on the tired Triton lines. Unlike during the first period, the Cougars dominated the time of posession in the second, relently pushing the puck up to UCSD’s goal. Gilmore connected on the only Triton goal while the Cougars added five more scores before the second intermission. ‘Our short bench took a toll on us,’ junior captain Casey Gong said. ‘We only had two lines and they had four lines ‘mdash; that was the biggest difference in the game.’
In complete control of the contest, the Cougars took a 9-4 lead into the third period. One of the very few bright spots for the Tritons in the game was Gilmore’s first career hat trick, accounting for most of UCSD’s goals.
‘Jackson is usually a defender but it was one of those games when we needed a veteran to step up and he did,’ Gong said.
UCSD was plagued with injuries and ineligibilities all season, resulting in a disappointing 3-10 record. ‘It was a rough season but we’re not losing too many players so next season should be better,’ Gong said.
Readers can contact’ Janani Sridharan at [email protected].