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<p>WATER POLO ‘mdash; It could not have been a better night for the UCSD women’s water polo team to start their season last Thursday. It was cold and raining, perfect conditions for playing water polo, and most importantly, the Tritons emerged victorious, defeating the Hartwick Hawks by a score of 12-10. It was an aggressive faceoff between two highly ranked teams, the No. 19 Tritons and the No. 14 Hawks, but when the rain cleared the Tritons held on for the win in their season opener.</p>
<p> ‘We came out and got a good first win,’ head coach Larry Sanders said. ‘We beat a team ranked higher than ourselves, so it just goes to show we should have been ranked higher, and that we’re being underestimated this year.’</p>
<p> Whether Hartwick underestimated the Tritons or not, it was clear from the opening sprint that UCSD had a clear advantage. Showing fervor and intensity in the opening quarter, the Tritons took a quick 5-3 lead, never looking back. Senior captain Sydney Gstettenbauer led the charge with six goals while utility player Stephanie Bocian had three goals, including the game clincher with 2:44 to play in the fourth.</p>
<p> ‘I was a little worried we’d come out flat since it’s our first game,’ Gstettenbauer said. ‘But we came out strong and played well.’</p>
<p> Throughout the match, the Hawks persisted to fight back from their early deficit, verging dangerously close to a comeback in the fourth quarter, after a goal to make the score 11-10 early in the fourth. The Tritons and Hawks went back and forth with scoreless possessions until the fatal shot by Bocian put the game away.</p>
<p> ‘We had some really strong points, but we also had some things we need to work on,’ coach Sanders said. ‘But we held on at the end there.’</p>
<p> The Tritons will take this first win with joy, but also with an eye focused to the future, knowing full well what it will take to compete further in their division. They will analyze this game’s strong points and refine their weaknesses in preparation for the rest of the season. However, before they could focus further on their season, the Tritons hosted their own tournament this past weekend.</p>
<p> In their first match on Sunday, the Tritons faced off against Marist College. The Red Foxes showed little competition against UCSD’s intensity, as the Tritons’ swam right over Marist, taking a 7-2 half-time lead. Marist offered little resistance in the second half, falling 12-6 by the end of the match. Gstettenbauer and Jessica Tran scored four goals apiece as the Tritons prepared themselves for their next match against UC Davis.</p>
<p> Throughout the years, the Aggies have been somewhat of a measuring stick for the Tritons. The Aggies provide strong competition and almost are always in the top 10, a good match for the 19th ranked Tritons to prove their merit.</p>
<p> ‘We always try to beat Davis because they are always up there in the standings,’ Gstettenbauer said.</p>
<p> The match started strong for UCSD, which took 5-0 lead in the first quarter, while Davis showed little to merit their high standing. The Tritons eventually took an 8-5 lead into half time and the teams prepared their strategy for the next half.</p>
<p> The Aggies did not let such a poor first half showing slow them down , proving how deserving they thought they were of their high standing, coming out strong in the second half tying the game at 8-8 with only 33 seconds left. Neither team managed to score in five minutes of overtime, so the teams ventured into the second overtime round resolute for a victory. Davis struck first two minutes in, but on the very next possession, the Tritons struck back tying the score at nine. With just seven seconds left in regulation, the Aggies scored to pull ahead, for the final time, with a score of 10-9 and leaving a bitter taste in the Tritons’ mouths.</p>
<p> ‘It was disappointing,’ Sanders said. ‘We came out really strong through the first half and then played really well into the fourth quarter, but just couldn’t hold on.’</p>
<p> The loss did not remove the Tritons from tournament competition. Despite the last second loss the previous day, the Tritons returned to action on Sunday ready to take out their vengeance on some highly ranked teams. The first Sunday match for the Tritons was against 15th ranked Long Beach State. </p>
<p> Gstettenbauer and Tran both scored multiple goals against Long Beach State; however, the duo did not provide enough power to propel the Tritons past the 49ers, falling 9-4.</p>
<p> In its final game on Sunday, UCSD once again faced off against a higher ranked team in 12th ranked’ Cal State Northridge. The Tritons fell behind early, trailing 5-1 at halftime, but pulled within 5-3 thanks to two goals by Gstettenbauer with about seven minutes remaining. However, UCSD did not have enough energy left after the weekend to pull out the upset of the Matadors, giving up three goals and eventually falling 8-3 before the day was over.</p>
<p> ‘We just came out really flat on Sunday,’ coach Sanders said. ‘We should have played a lot better, and we have a lot of stuff to work on for our next weekend.’</p>
<p> Despite an uneventful showing, the Tritons placed eighth in the tournament on Sunday and are back in action against Cal State San Bernardino on Feb. 14th at 11 a.m. in Canyonview Pool.</p>
<p> Readers can contact Tyler Nelson at tcnelson@ucsd.edu.</p>
<p>” />#1.1374254:3710546381.jpg:021209wpolo1:After its first week of play, the women</p>
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