After a grueling seven hour drive to San Luis Obispo, the UC San Diego women’s club soccer team stepped onto the field at eight in the evening to take on their first opponent, UC Santa Barbara, in the NIRSA Regionals tournament. San Diego knew this game would be a challenge; last time they played SB it was a skillful match ending in a scoreless tie. With a plentiful squad, Santa Barbara came out strong and hard. San Diego responded with composure and confidence. As the game went on, they played hard and did not let SB’s chippy play get in their heads. Despite limited subs and multiple injuries prior to and during the game, San Diego shut out Santa Barbara. SD played well and hard for each other, but were unable to put one in the back of the net and it was another scoreless tie for the books. Even if it was not the ideal outcome, SD kept their heads high, knowing they put full effort in the game.

The next morning they took on UC Davis. Eager to get the ball in the back of the net, San Diego came out hard and dominated the first half. Unfortunately it was still scoreless at half so captains Jill Giannini and Shannon Earley gave an inspirational speech that fired up the team. The Tritons came out just as hard the second half and maintained their composure. This hard work paid off late in the second half when leading goal scorer, Jade Joiner, put one in the back of the net. With flawless skill, Jade beat the keeper for an easy pass into the goal. The game ended in a 1-0 victory for the Tritons.

After a nice victory Saturday morning against UC Davis, October 26th, the UCSD women’s club soccer team played the tournament hosts Cal Poly SLO for their third match of the weekend. With only 15 players, and numerous injuries, the Tritons knew it was going to be a tough game. Kick off was at 4PM, and unfortunately 6 minutes into the game the Tritons were already down 2-0. Within the first two minutes, SLO proceeded to take the ball down the right side of the field, cross the ball toward one of their forwards and score their first goal. Their second goal was not much different as it also came from a cross from the right side, and one of their front players used their knee to collect the ball from the air and score. Even though UCSD was 2 goals down, the team did not give up. They finished out the half at 0-2, and re-entered the half with a more focused mindset. The second half consisted of multiple offensive possibilities from both teams. However, unfortunately again Cal Poly SLO got their 3rd and final goal towards the middle of the second half off of a header that was supplied off a cross from a corner. The Tritons fought hard the whole game, having good amounts of possession especially in the second half, but ended up losing 3-0 to SLO. Sadly this ended up being their last game of the weekend.