On Saturday, the Tritons took on UC Santa Barbara in their opening match, falling to the Gauchos 9-5.

UCSD ended the first up 2-1 after a goal from sophomore Sarah Lizotte.

Lizotte — last week’s WWPA national player of the week — went up early, scoring after four minutes of play.

The Gauchos tied the game just one minute later, but freshman utility Rachel Brooks put the Tritons on top before the end of the first quarter.

Lizotte would tack on two more, but the Gauchos would run away with the lead in the second period, finishing three goals to cement the lead.

In their second match of the day, the Tritons faced another Division I opponent in CSU Bakersfield. UCSD lost in a close high-scoring bout, 12-11.

           Again, Lizotte led the way with another hat-trick. UCSD Senior Jessica Tran matched Lizotte, scoring three goals of her own.

           The game was tight throughout, as the two teams went into the final quarter tied 8-8. 

UCSD took an early goal to go up 9-8, but Bakersfield’s Sam Shead tied the score just minutes later.

Shead would notch another goal to secure the 12-11 win.

            On the second day of the tournament, falling into the loser’s bracket, the Tritons faced Santa Clara University, beating the Broncos 9-7.

           The game remained scoreless in the first quarter. Santa Clara finally opened up the scoring in the second period, going up 1-0.

The Tritons quickly took one back, as Tran found senior utility Natalie Peng for a short goal.

Both teams tacked on two more, but with the game tied 2-2, Triton goalkeeper Allie Taylor was ejected.

UCSD was forced to field their players deep in their own half to protect the goal, but the Tritons were still able to maintain a 4-3 advantage to end the half.

           UCSD kept the one point margin as both teams recorded two goals in the third quarter, but the Tritons widened the gap in the fourth quarter, scoring three goals to take the match 9-7.

           “I would be lying if I said it was a great weekend. It wasn’t,” head coach Brad Kreutzkamp said to the UCSD athletics department. “We had better hopes to try and stay with a [UC] Santa Barbara team which we fell a little short of, then we came back flat against [Cal State] Bakersfield. But I have to stay satisfied that we got two wins, we have our attitudes back on track, and now we get people happy and who want to play.”

           In their last match of the tournament, the Tritons faced Marist College for the third time this season.

           The Tritons defeated the Red Foxes 15-10 on Sunday, Jan. 29 and won again on Feb. 10, 9-4.

Last Sunday, the Tritons took another comfortable win from Marist, beating the Red Foxes 8-4.

           Lizotte scored a game-high five goals, leading the Tritons in a game that was never really close.

           UCSD ended the tournament in 13th place out of a field of 16 teams, ahead of Marist, Sonoma State and Santa Clara.

Arizona State (12-0) defeated UC Irvine to win the tournament.

UCSD’s next game is slated for Friday, Feb. 18 at Long Beach State.