The UCSD women’s water polo team hit the road over the weekend for a tournament hosted by UC Santa Barbara. After a series of tough battles with top opponents, the Tritons came away with a 2-2 record for the tourney and a 6-4 overall record heading into a nine-game homestand starting this week.
In its first game of the weekend, UCSD faced a tough San Jose State team. After stumbling out of the gates early, the Tritons fell behind quickly and faced a 7-1 deficit at halftime, eventually losing 10-5.
Head coach Larry Sanders was disappointed by his team’s performance.
“”We just came out real flat,”” he said. “”We were not connecting offensively or defensively.””
Hoping to erase that loss from their minds, the Tritons then took on UC Irvine. Once again, UCSD started off slowly and fell behind 4-0 at the half. However, the team rallied and tied the game at the end of regulation play with a 5-5 score.
Senior Courtney Hemmerly kept the Tritons alive with a clutch goal with about five seconds left to play, and finished with three goals in the Anteaters’ 7-5 overtime loss. Junior Samara Silverman added six steals in the victory.
Sanders was impressed by his team’s comeback.
“”It was good to see they could come back from that kind of situation,”” he said.
Starting off Sunday’s games, UCSD faced host Santa Barbara in a game that came down to the wire. The Tritons displayed some brilliance in the match, converting three of seven ejections into goals. Senior Emma Kruditzki led UCSD with two goals while the teams battled toward the end of regulation in a 6-6 deadlock. During the overtime session, both teams had trouble finding the back of the cage until the Gauchos scored with 5 seconds left, breaking the Tritons’ hearts in the process. Even in defeat, however, UCSD pulled some positives out of the result.
“”We played a good, solid game,”” Sanders said. “”We had plenty of opportunities and unfortunately the luck was on their side.””
The team finished out the weekend against University of Michigan and ended the tournament on a positive note with a 6-4 victory. Juniors Dana Tucker and Danielle Boyle led the Tritons with two goals apiece.
“”The second half belonged to us,”” Sanders said. “”We shut [Michigan] down with some superb defense.””
University of Michigan and UCSD faced off again Feb. 27 at Canyonview Pool.
