This year's national water polo tournament marked an important moment for the Triton program, as they competed for a fourth straight national title. They started with a game against Villanova University. The Tritons had a slow start and allowed the Wildcats to stay close in the game in the first quarter, but UCSD eventually started to get warm and put away their shots, allowing them to get their first win of the tournament. 

Going into their next game against the University of Colorado, the Tritons were overconfident and missed many free shot opportunities that they should have put away, allowing Colorado to stay in the game. Thankfully, the Triton defense was great and shut down their offense from scoring the whole second half, leading to an 8-3 Triton victory.

The semi-final match was against the University of Alabama, and they came out strong, scoring the first two goals. The Tritons responded with two goals of their own following that, leaving the first quarter tied. Going into the second quarter, UCSD got back their composure and shut the Crimson Tide down with their defense, which allowed us to counter them off of their bad offensive opportunities. The Tritons eventually came away with the game, but Alabama never lost its intensity. 

UCSD made it back to the championship game against Cal Poly, and off the first possession, the Tritons scored the first goal. However, Cal Poly immediately responded with their own goal tying up the game. The two teams were evenly matched swimming-wise, so counter opportunities weren't there for either team. After halftime, the Tritons were down by two, but they had a 3-2 third quarter, making it a one-point game in the fourth. In the last minute of the game, UCSD had the ball coming off a timeout down by one and ran a play, leaving their player at three with a shot from six meters to tie the game. The shot was blocked, and the match ended shortly after. Despite falling short of expectations and experiencing their first national championship loss in four years, the team's effort reflected the standard of competitiveness that has defined the Triton program's success, and they are hopeful for next year.