SDSU’s invitational tournament in the spring is always a fun time. Teams come from across the country (though mostly from California) for some high level competition in the off-season. It marks the last official tournament for our seniors who are graduating in June, and I am happy to say that all four seniors--Mackenzie Cottle, JJ Kadifa, Jackson Ziegler and Ed Montgomery--scored this weekend.

We went into this weekend a little under-staffed (11 people max), but ended up 2-2 by the end. Saturday consisted of UC Riverside and Cal Poly SLO. Riverside was quick and had some real sharpshooters, but solid 6 on 5 play, and steady defense gave us the win. Against Cal Poly, we had even fewer people (Thanks, Sun God), with our captain Mackenzie and our future captain Tobias filling in for goalie. We kept the game close until half, but then the 5-3 game opened up for Cal Poly due to more energy, strong shots, and smart playing. Despite this, the guys on SLO were fun to play against and showed true sportsmanship. It was simply a fun game of water polo, full of laughs and jokes.

On Sunday, we woke up early to face UC Davis. Amazingly, Davis had fewer people than we did, and seemed even more tired. We played a solid game, and handily beat them. Once again, our opponents were fun-loving guys, and the game went smoothly. Then we had to play Cal, who apparently felt like they had something to prove. They came out hard, and stayed serious until the end of the game, which they won without trouble. The score was 4-2 after the first, which leads me to believe that if we had our full roster, it would have been a good match. Whatever the case, we quickly realized we had no chance, and our whole team began to play simply for fun. We got Ed a goal, and kept playing until the end. It was a little sad to hear the final buzzer go off and realize my time with UCSD’s club team was coming to a close, but the tournament was a good time all around, and a great way to start wrapping things up. We might not have won all our games, but each one was fun, and at the end of the day, that’s all that really matters.

Thanks Sports Clubs, Go Tritons!