CLUB SPORTS ‘mdash; Playing host to the annual President’s Day Tournament from Feb. 14 through Feb. 16, the men’s ultimate Frisbee club team placed second in a field of 20.
Entering the tournament on Warren Field as the second seed, the UCSD Air Squids won contests over the University of Southern California, UC Berkeley’s B team, University of San Diego and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo on Saturday. Continuing strong play, UCSD opened up the second day with a 13-11 victory over UCLA, a team that defeated the Air Squids earlier in the season.
‘I was really disappointed,’ senior captain Mark Johnston said of the previous defeat. ‘I felt like we should definitely be better than UCLA and we really wanted another shot at them.’
UCSD posted wins over Chico State University and the University of North Texas, advancing to the finals against UC Berkeley. Originally slated for Monday, the final was moved up to Sunday to dodge stormy weather. The Golden Bears of UC Berkeley proved to be the Air Squids’ toughest competition, using their quickness to wreak havoc on UCSD’s defense.
‘[The Golden Bears] move the disc really fast, so it’s hard to track them on the sidelines, which is what we were looking to do,’ Johnston said.
Cal’s offense never let up, claiming victory on UCSD’s home field. The Tritons will be back in action March 7′ and March 8 at the Stanford Invite.
‘The Stanford Invite is the biggest tournament with the best teams competing,’ Johnston said. ‘Our goal is to have a winning record in the tournament.’
Roller hockey
The UCSD club roller hockey team suffered its first loss in the regular season’s last game against Saddleback College in Corona, Calif., last weekend. Entering their final tournament undefeated, the Tritons posted victories over Cal Poly Pomona, University of San Diego and University of Southern California before their loss to Saddleback, finishing the regular season with a 16-1 record.
‘Saddleback beat every Division-I team they faced and we’re in Division II, so it was a stretch for us,’ senior Ben Yeaton said. ‘They play a different style than we’ve seen before and we didn’t play to their level.’ UCSD barely missed an opportunity to play in the National Championship game last season, finishing in third place. Since the majority of the team has played together for the past three seasons, a championship may be within reach for the Tritons this year.
‘We’ve progressively done better at nationals,’ Yeaton said. ‘Three years ago, we were in the top eight, two years ago we placed fifth and last year we placed third. If any team I’ve been on has the potential to win, it is definitely this year’s team.’
Badminton
The Tritons are looking to add another national championship to the program that won back-to-back titles in 2004-05 and 2005-06. The Tritons finished their regular season 7-0, winning close contests at UCLA and against UC Irvine. The perfect mark was UCSD’s first undefeated season since the 2004-05 campaign. The Tritons will begin their quest for a title at the College Nationals on March 21 and March 22 at Irvine Valley College.
Readers can contact Janani Sridharan at [email protected].