San Jose State #1

The Tritons faced the Spartans in the first game of their 4 game NorCal roadtrip, hopeful at the prospect of their still burgeoning season, and looking forward to facing both San Jose State and Berkeley on this trip. This hope however was quickly cut short by the Spartans, who came out firing against the Tritons, scoring consistently and frequently as the Tritons found themselves unable to stop the bleeding. The game became increasingly physical as well, with both teams touting quite impressive penalty minutes. But, as is common with UCSD hockey, the Tritons refused to give up or let go of hope, fighting bitterly until the final buzzer, and even getting one goal. The Tritons therefore, despite not starting the weekend as they had hoped, are looking forward to facing the Spartans again and having a possible change in luck.

San Jose State #2

Like the first game between the Spartans and the Tritons, the second game became even more of a viscious battle between the two teams as tempers flared, players became heated, and aggressive play defined what was to be the rest of the double header. Again not the result the Tritons were hoping for, including a few ejections for both teams, the return of Dylan Behseresht and Alexei Davis, two alumni for the team watching from the stands, gave a slightly calming influence on the team. The Tritons go back to hotel discouraged but not down, as they need to prepare to face the Berkeley Bears the next two days.

Berkeley Game #1

The third game of the weekend, the Tritons looked forward to a less chippy game, possibly more civil, where they could show off more of their skills. And the resulting 4 goals for the Tritons did prove that a new day brought a new offensive strategy that was working better for them. However, with continuing problems in the defensive zone, the Tritons were bombarded with shots, resulting in 16 Bears goals. Although the game was cleaner than the previous two, the Tritons became more and more unsure about the potential of this season, seeing many games simply not going their way, despite strong efforts from all the individual players. Tritons look toward their last game in NorCal for a little hope before returning back to SD.

Berkeley Game #2

The final, and much anticipated, game on this NorCal journey also ended in disappointment for the Tritons, who were only able to rack up two goals throughout the game, dwarfed by the Berkeley thirteen. Again, Tritons struggled to get the puck out of the zone forcing goalies to make save after save until one eventually sneaked through. What had been plaguing UCSD all weekend continued to result in goal after goal, resulting in another hard fought and unfruitful loss. The Tritons will return home tired and beat and will try to regroup to not make this season as disappointing as this weekend was for them. They look forward to working on their chemistry and systems to try and do better next time.