The game was neck-and-neck for the first three quarters, but the Tritons pulled ahead in the final period to the five-point lead that marked the final score.

“I think we started a little bit slow… It took us three quarters [to get into the game] and it shouldn’t have,” senior two-meter defense Jakub Bednarek said. “We know how we can play and we weren’t into it mind-wise in the beginning… but at the end we proved we can play.”

Within the first two minutes of play, the Pomona-Pitzer Sagehens found the net to put the first points on the scoreboard. UCSD failed to answer in its next possession as a goal attempt floated on the line but didn’t go in. Pomona-Pitzer scored another goal in the two-meter zone after an offensive turnover, bringing the score to 2-0.

The Tritons responded with two goals of their own, but a backhanded skipped shot found the net and the Sagehens led 3-2 at the end of the first period.

Senior driver Bryce Madsen tied the score to start the second quarter, and sophomore utility Brian Donohoe scored with 5:16 left in the period to give the Tritons their first lead. The squads continued to battle and went into the half with the score tied at 6-6.

“I think when we blocked them at half time, we realized this is our last game,” Madsen said. “We had to come out strong, and everybody picked it up for the seniors. We were motivated to swim hard and obviously we all did that.”

Donohoe scored two of his five goals of the match to start the second half for the Tritons, but the Sagehens kept fighting and were able to stay just one behind until, with a good show of ball movement from the Tritons, Madsen scored with 34 seconds left, bringing them ahead for good.

“It was a bit ugly at first, but it was good,” junior goalkeeper David Morton said. “That was a really important game for us, so it was just good that it was on senior day too and that we got the win.”

Morton recorded 11 saves for the match.

The Tritons made their seniors proud in the fourth period when senior driver Ryan Allred shot a quick two-meter donut, bringing the team three goals ahead of the Sagehens. The Tritons scored four goals in the quarter to put the game out of reach.

“It’s been a great four years,” Madsen said. “I couldn’t ask for a better way to finish it; I’m just excited that we get to finish it in this fashion and come out with the win.”

Next up for the Tritons are the WWPA championships Nov. 19-21 at Santa Clara University. This Saturday, Nov. 13, the team will play two scrimmages against the club teams Sunset San Diego at 12 p.m. and the San Francisco Athletic Club at 2 p.m.

“We have a week off next week where we’re just going to train and prepare,” Morton said. “We don’t have any official games next week, and then we have another full week after that. So we have two full weeks to prepare and work out going into conference championships. I feel pretty good, especially after Friday night’s game, considering how we played.”