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The No. 17 Tritons head into their annual first-day-of-school match against No. 5 Loyola Marymount University with last year’s close loss to the Lions still fresh on their minds.
UCSD won two out of its four games at the Northern California Tournament at Stanford University Sept. 19 and Sept, including a 6-5 loss to LMU in the opening match.
Falling behind 5-2 after three quarters against the Lions, UCSD scored three goals in the fourth period, but was unable to overcome the early hole.
The Tritons bounced back with an 8-7 win over No. 10 Concordia University, then split their Sunday games, falling to No. 9 Cal State Long Beach before rebounding to beat No. 18 UC Davis.
Prior to the tournament at Stanford, the Tritons traveled to Maryland for three matches on Sept. 11 and Sept. 12. In a classic matchup of West Coast versus East Coast, the Tritons performed well, posting back-to-back wins over George Washington University and John Hopkins University before dropping a hard-fought, 11-10 overtime decision to the Naval Academy.
‘In the games against George Washington and Johns Hopkins, our conditioning played the overall factor on both defense and offense,’ Cruz said. ‘Our coaches put conditioning at the top of our list as a necessary advantage we need to have over other teams.’
The two wins against tough Eastern opponents reflect the team’s off-season productivity.
‘This off-season we worked on creating a very efficient counter-attack offense and defense,’ Roberts said. ‘Wearing down teams is the mentality UCSD brings to every game.’
The Tritons look to ring in the first day of classes by hosting longtime rival LMU on Sept. 24. Due to the temporary closure of the Canyonview Aquatic Center, the Tritons will host the Lions at the Coggan Family Aquatic Complex adjacent to La Jolla High School at 6 p.m.
Readers can contact Brianna Lee at [email protected].