It was a beautiful, sunny day in Santa Barbara as the UC San Diego Tritons took on the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos. After driving for five hours, the Tritons safely made it to field, pumped and ready for the first game of the season. After a great warmup, the team was ready for action. Last year Santa Barbara was a big contender in nationals, so the Tritons knew it would be a tough game, but were ready to take them on. Immediately as the opening whistle blew, it was an intense game. Players on both sides went hard and this resulted in the injury of Anais Ortiz, a stellar outside back for UC San Diego. After she was forced to leave the game, the Tritons had to adjust and play even stronger to avenge her. Cynthia Ruiz had almost given the Tritons a lead with a shot outside the box, but it deflected off of the keeper and went wide of the goal. As the half went on, the UC San Diego defense did an amazing job to hold off the unrelenting offense of Santa Barbara. The half ended without a goal being scored from either side.

The second half kicked off with the score still 0-0. The Tritons were determined to get ahead of the Gauchos and started off strong. The center midfielders, Elayna Osterman and Nat Maloney, received the ball from the defense and worked their way up to the forwards. From there the Tritons had some more amazing shots, one from Marissa Lynch where she curved into the top corner of the goal but at the last second the Santa Barbara goalkeeper made an amazing save, breaking the hearts of every UC San Diego player and fan watching. UC Santa Barbara also had its share of good shots, but thanks to the amazing UC San Diego keepers, Allison Lee and Mya Dar, the Tritons were able to keep the Gauchos from scoring. After a hard fought game and a final save by Mya Dar, the final whistle was blown and the game ended in a 0-0 tie. The Tritons had put on a great performance and were ready to use the momentum for the following day for their home game against UCLA.