In game one of two for the Washington trip to Bellingham, WA, the UCSD Tritons faced the Western Washington University Vikings. The Tritons wanted to come out hot, and luckily, captain Sean Miller (#16) scored the opening goal, assisted by Alexander Tatoian (#28). The Tritons also successfully killed a penalty towards the end of the first and went back to the locker room in high spirits. However, in the second period, the Vikings were able to recalibrate their strategy and scored three unanswered goals. The third was much of the same, with another two goals by WWU, including one on the power play after a Triton penalty. The Tritons returned to the hotel, motivated to get some rest and try to replicate their first-period success for the entire game, aiming to secure a win.

In the second game, the Tritons traded blows with the Vikings throughout the game in one of the highest scoring games for UCSD all year. The Vikings potted the first goal, but the Tritons responded with one of their own with a goal from Alex Tatoian (#28), assisted by Luca Tartaglia (#27) and Colm Grieb (#2). This was rookie Colm Grieb’s first point as a UCSD Triton. Unfortunately, the Vikings struck again with 3 seconds left in the first period, sending UCSD into the locker room down one again. Shortly after the beginning of the second period, the Vikings struck again. Still, the Tritons were not far behind, with senior Hudson Gehrke (#7) and his first goal of the season, assisted by Alex Tatoian (#28) and Jackson Marlais (#3). Another goal from captain Sean Miller (#16), assisted by Luca Tartaglia (#27), tied the game at 3-3. Rookie Saku Sekiguchi (#20) scored to give the Tritons their first lead of the game, and the UCSD team was invigorated, thinking they might have a chance at their first league win of the season. Unfortunately, the Vikings responded with another score before the end of the second quarter, which tied the contentious game. In the third quarter, WWU scored first, reestablishing its lead, but remained undisciplined, with double the penalties as the Tritons. One such penalty led to another goal from rookie Saku Sekiguchi (#20), assisted by Jackson Marlais (#3) and Alex Tatoian (#28). The game was tied again until the Vikings scored two more. Arick Collander (#25) scored his first of the season, assisted by Sean Miller (#16) and Jackson Marlais (#3), but the Vikings scored one more. Despite the empty net with a 6-4 opportunity on the power play, UCSD couldn’t find the back of the net. This was a disappointing loss, but the Tritons focused on the positives. They are very excited to have gone head-to-head with a high-ranking team in their division. Additionally, Colm Grieb (#2) and Jackson Marlais (#3) had their first and first three points, respectively, of the season, and, importantly, the goal from rookie Arick Collander (#25) earned him the game puck, despite the loss. Next weekend, UCSD will face its So-Cal rivals, the USC Trojans, in surely another hard-fought battle. See you there!