Tritons Head to Texas After a 7-Year Nationals Drought

Early Sunrise and Freezing Temperatures – UCSD headed to Round Rock, Texas to participate in the 2024 NIRSA National Championships after a seven-year absence. The Tritons' first opponent was UCF, who had posted an impressive defensive record of one goal conceded in thirteen games coming into the tournament. While this might have seemed like a difficult matchup for the Tritons, they were hopeful they could make an early morning statement, and, importantly, they knew they were capable of doing exactly that. The 8:00am kickoff served as one additional obstacle for the Tritons, who would be dealing with a 2-hour time change having travelled halfway across the country.

The match would start with UCSD applying high pressure from a very attack-minded start. The Tritons wanted to be direct, looking to exploit the space behind the UCF backline and pin the Florida team back near their own goal. This would allow the Tritons to create several good goal-scoring opportunities in the first fifteen minutes, but none were able to find the back of the net. As the half developed, UCSD began to figure out the UCF squad, figuring out the weak points in the UCF defense and being able to prevent dangerous attacks at the same time. UCSD would be the first to open the scoring as UCF had difficulties getting near the Triton goal, and the second part of the first half saw the Tritons dominate. They held possession very well and forced UCF to chase the ball, and the Tritons were encouraged by their first-half performance and hopeful heading into halftime even if the score was 0–0.

The second half saw multiple changes to the Tritons lineup in the hopes of rotating the squad to keep players fresh for the upcoming games. The main focus remained securing three points against UCF, but the changes seemed to disrupt the Tritons’ rhythm in the first few minutes of the period: they had difficulties generating the same opportunities in the attacking third from the first half, and the overall team shape seemed to be missing. The shakiness in the play of the Tritons’ gave the chance for UCF to gain the ascendancy, bringing about some worry in the UCSD team. After about 20 minutes or so, various substitutions were made in order to regain control of the game, but those substitutions proved disruptive and inopportune as a long ball through the UCSD defense and a lack of communication at the back gave UCF an opening goal. The goal almost seemed inevitable given how lost and disconnected the Tritons had looked in the second half. But the Tritons were not out of the game yet. They had multiple chances in front of the goal, and the UCF goalkeeper made a series of saves in quick succession to keep the Florida team in the lead. UCF would be spared after numerous chances were unfortunately not put away by UCSD, and the game would end 1–0 in favor of the Florida side. The result, while not great, did not eliminate the Tritons, who would be looking to bounce back in their following group stage match against GCU later in the day.

Ran Out of Plot Armor – The previous encounter between UCSD and GCU was at the Aztec Cup in early October, and there was a lot of bad blood between the two teams as a result of that game. The game was quite scrappy and very physical, with both teams getting into it, and UCSD ultimately took home the 2–1 victory thanks to a last-minute goal by Joey Afsari.

From the first whistle, UCSD decided to take a more vertical approach, hoping that the long balls in behind the GCU defense would push their lines back and allow the Triton midfielders to find spaces in the middle of the field. Despite an early injury to center back David Contreras Rivera in the opening few minutes, the Tritons managed to hold their own in the early phase of the game, with senior Trevor Elder connecting to a Lucas Venetoulias corner to give the Tritons a 1–0 lead. Should the Tritons manage to hold onto their slender lead, they would secure a place in the knockout round. But, the lead would only last a matter of minutes as a lack of concentration in the UCSD defense would lead to GCU’s equalizer. The rest of the half was very back-and-forth with both teams looking dangerous, an encouraging sign for the fans for what the second half might bring. The half would end 1–1.

UCSD would take the field for the second half knowing their best chance to advance to the next round of the tournament would come with a victory in this game. It was clear that the second half was going to be intense, with both teams nipping at each other’s heels and not letting the other team breathe. After one nice sequence by the Tritons halfway through the second half, striker Vismay Manoj managed to find the back of the net, but the goal was called back for what proved to be questionable offsides. This disallowed goal gave the Tritons a confidence boost as they continued to push for the second goal, but their efforts were in vain. As the game progressed, fatigue seemed to overwhelm them as some players were experiencing cramps and the Tritons were forced into making undesirable substitutions given the stage of the game. The Tritons’ fatigue, and the pushing for the second goal, ultimately gave GCU an opportunity to take the lead late in the second half, leaving the Tritons desperately searching for an equalizer and a miracle for their chances of advancing to the next round. The Tritons showed great fighting and desire to try and find the equalizer, and even if balls bounced around the GCU box, UCSD was unable to reach that crucial second goal. Fighting until the last minute proved not to be enough as the game would end 2–1 in favor of GCU, leaving UCSD eliminated from the knockout round of the tournament.

Rough Ending for UCSD – After being knocked out of the tournament, UCSD would still be allowed to play in a consolation tournament with other eliminated teams. It was an opportunity for the Tritons to play new teams and to experiment with new personnel and new lineups that might feature in the second half of their season. The first match would be against St. Louis. The starting eleven was completely different from what it had been throughout the tournament with the only returning starters being defender Jaydon Galindo-Lovell, midfielder Lucas Venetoulias, and striker Vismay Manoj. The changes to the team meant the match would be interesting for the Tritons, with the benefit for the team to see a host of different players getting some minutes and some meaningful action. The first half saw UCSD adapting to new positions and personnel and controlling the flow of the game. The need for immediate chemistry between some of the newer faces meant the Tritons would dominate possession but would ultimately not create many good scoring chances, although they were resolute and convincing in the back. The stout defensive showing meant the Tritons would only give up two shots the entire half, and without major chances themselves, the half would end 0 – 0.  

UCSD would come out with almost the same team that began the game, and there was a lack of offensive output that was carried over from the first half. The inability of the Tritons to generate clear goal-scoring opportunities would let St. Louis gain control of the half in the early exchanges in the second half; it seemed like UCSD was on the back foot for the opening minutes, which culminated in a lack of focus and a goal conceded from a quickly taken set piece by St. Louis. After 20 minutes or so, the Tritons would make various changes to try and regain some stability in the game, which they did, but it proved too little too late. The last ten minutes saw the Tritons make extreme efforts to find the equalizer, but nothing seemed to come off for them. The game would end frustratingly for UCSD with a 1–0 defeat, bringing their Nationals tournament run to an end in disappointing fashion.