WATER POLO ‘mdash; The 18th ranked Tritons fell on hard times last weekend, succumbing to 10th ranked UC Irvine on Feb. 27 and 16th ranked Long Beach State on Feb. 28 at home. Despite two strong first halves, the Tritons fell to 3-9 on the season and saw their losing streak extend to six.
Following their loss to the Anteaters, the Tritons returned to the pool against the 49ers. UCSD struck early, exchanging goals with the 49ers through the first half in a tough match between two evenly matched teams. The teams went into intermission with nothing separating them, and the score tied at three.
‘We knew we needed a win coming out of [the UC Irvine] game, and we knew we could win,’ junior utility Stephanie Bocian said.
The Tritons came out strong in the second half, as sophomore attacker Hanalei Crowell struck first for the Tritons. Long Beach State responded with a goal quickly, but the Tritons clearly dominated the third quarter, scoring two more while playing nearly flawless defensively. The Tritons looked good with a fourth quarter lead of 6-4 but were unable to build on the lead as the 49ers defense held strong, shutting out the Tritons the rest of the way. The 49ers tied the game at six early in the fourth, using their defensive momentum to seize control of the game. Long Beach State found the back of the net twice during the final 90 seconds to cement a come-from-behind 8-6 victory.
‘We just need to focus on some of the mistakes we made and try to prevent them for next time,’ head coach Larry Sanders said.
The Tritons played well offensively through the first half against UC Irvine on Friday night. Although the Anteaters took an early lead, the Tritons struck back when senior attacker Sydney Gstettenbauer scored early in the second to tie the game at four. The teams went back and forth the rest of the quarter, but it was Irvine that went into intermission with a two-point advantage.
‘They just capitalized on some opportunities, especially in the second half and we didn’t,’ Sanders said. We didn’t take care of the ball.’
The Tritons were nearly blown out in the third quarter, as the Anteaters scored four straight goals to start, before freshman hole set Kirsten Bates scored her lone goal of the match. Still, the Tritons found themselves trailing 14-7 early in the fourth, and were unable to find the back of the net past the five minute mark when Gstettenbauer made it 14-8.
Trying to shake off their tough string of losses, the Tritons head to Santa Barbara next weekend where they will be competing in the UCSB invitational tournament.
Readers can contact Tyler Nelson at [email protected].