No. 13 Tritons Take Two at UC Irvine Invitational

The No. 13 Tritons spent the weekend at the UC Irvine Invitational held at the Anteater Aquatics Center on Feb. 27 and 28.

On the opening day, the Tritons lost game one, 8–7, against No. 5 UC Davis. However, UCSD bounced back in game two as it defeated No. 14 Loyola Marymount 9–8. But the rollercoaster continued as the Tritons lost their first game on Sunday against No. 7 Arizona State, 9–5, only to come back and win their second game of the day against No. 12 University of Pacific. The Tritons are now 8–6 overall.

Game One

UCSD’s defense was strong to start the game as it shut out UC Davis during the first quarter, with senior attacker Emma Sasson scoring a goal and giving UCSD an early lead. During the second quarter, UCSD’s junior two-meter defender Alexis Wieseler scored twice while junior attacker Connie Wu and junior center Lauren Boyer each scored one goal for the Tritons. Nonetheless, UC Davis was able to score four goals during the second quarter, making the score 5–4 in the Tritons’ favor heading into halftime.

UC Davis’s scoring streak continued throughout the third quarter, as it scored four more goals and shut out the Tritons, making the score 8–5 in the Aggies’ favor heading into the final quarter.

UCSD inarguably showed some fight in the fourth quarter as its senior goalkeeper Courtney Miller stopped everything that came her way, continuing to shut out the Aggies. Although Wieseler had her third goal of the game, completing the hat trick, and Boyer scored her second of the game, it was not enough to get the win for the Tritons; the final score was 8–7.

Game Two

The LMU Lions took the lead early in the match, as they led the Tritons 3–2 in the first quarter.

Yet the second proved to be a big quarter, as Sasson, along with senior attackers Laurel Kistler and Julia Kirkland, scored one goal each to give the Tritons a 5–3 lead heading into halftime.

Although the Tritons allowed the Lions to score four goals in the third quarter, they scored three goals themselves, keeping the lead as they headed into the final quarter 8–7.

UCSD junior two-meter defender Lani Tittle scored early in the fourth quarter before LMU squeezed one past Miller. The Tritons then hung on for the win against the Lions 9–8. Boyer had a hat trick while Kistler and Kirkland had two goals each in the victory.

“[I’m] very proud of the way we rebounded in tonight’s game against LMU,” UCSD Head Coach Brad Kreutzkamp told UCSD Athletics. “We really came together, and I was very proud of probably our most well-rounded team win of the year.”

Game Three

Kistler scored the first goal of the match, giving the Tritons an early lead, but a goal at the end of the first quarter by ASU’s senior center Abbey Kerth tied the game at 1–1.

The Tritons gave up four goals during the second quarter, despite getting one goal apiece from Wieseler and Tittle, and trailed 5–3 heading into halftime.

Boyer scored twice in the third quarter, but that was not enough to take the lead against ASU’s powerful offense; the Sun Devils scored three more goals in the third quarter, making the score 8–5 before the final quarter of the game. Again, the Tritons failed to score, but the Sun Devils scored once more to secure their 9–5 victory.

Game Four

The Tritons took the lead early after goals from Sasson and Wieseler in the first quarter, despite allowing the Tigers to score one goal. Each of them scored another goal during the second quarter. The Tigers scored three goals during the second quarter, tying the game up 4–4 going into halftime.

Although the Tigers scored two more goals early in the third quarter, the Tritons’ defense shut them down for the remainder of the game.

But Sasson scored again, completing the hat trick and cutting the Tiger’s lead to one goal. Freshman center Chanel Schilling tied the game up, then Wieseler scored her third goal of the game as she gave the Tritons a one-goal advantage. The score was 7–6 in the Tritons’ favor as the team headed into the fourth quarter.

Wieseler then scored her fourth goal of the game while Tittle scored her first, adding two more insurance goals for the Tritons. The final score of the match was 9–6.

“I was very proud of our continued effort to never give up, no matter how far behind we fall,” Kreutzkamp told UCSD Athletics. “This team could have quit so many times, but never did. They continue to pick each other up over and over again.”

UCSD will head to the Claremont Convergence tournament on March 4 and 5 to play La Verne, Whittier, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps and Pomona-Pitzer.