4/12-4/14/24 - UCSD title hopes thwarted as WCSA playoffs are cut short by rain
UCSD is coming into playoffs with an incredible record of being undefeated in 2024, along with two consecutive clean sheets. Although the league standings didn’t show it, UCSD was a clear favorite to win the tournament. The first game of the tournament would be against Santa Clara University who had an incredible record in their league and were actually league champions. This was well known amongst the team, so they were not underestimating Santa Clara whatsoever. This matchup would be seen as the most important game of the group and UCSD’s life in the playoffs could either be cut early or extended by the outcome of this game.
The game would start off with both teams attempting to figure each other out. The first ten minutes were sloppy from both sides as neither team had possession nor were any chances being created. Both teams were losing and gaining possession near the center of the field, it was apparent that it would be a scrappy physical game. Santa Clara was playing an offensive style of play, utilizing their width to the maximum extent, having their fullbacks create runs in behind, while their front three would overload the center backs. This ultimately led to the first goal, as the Tritons did not know how to change their setup in order to counter Santa Clara’s style. A pass back to the goalie, who was unlucky due to the conditions of the pitch, was unable to clear the ball out and the Santa Clara striker was in the right place at the right time, as he simply passed the ball into the net. Being down 1-0 stunned the Tritons as they have been playing so well and had not been on the losing side in a long time. The first half would continue to be sloppy, and Santa Clara became more physical as the game progressed. UCSD was lacking a physical presence and a voice, they needed someone to step-up and lead by example. The Tritons would go into halftime trailing 1-0, and hoping to make some changes that would turn the game around.
Heading into the second half, UCSD made several changes to their approach, they needed their wingers to help the fullbacks on defense to stop Santa Clara’s fullbacks from causing so much danger. They also flipped the switch, everyone knew they had to play more physical and be a presence on the field. The new approach also demanded that the entry ball into the striker would be the primary outlet when building out of the back. Utilizing these changes, UCSD was able to compete against a great team. It started as the center backs were able to carry the ball forward and breaking lines, which led to multiple runs in behind from the wingers. The defense looked sharp, winning almost every aerial duel, and the midfielders were doing an incredible job at collecting the rebounds from the aerial duels. The Tritons cut the mistakes out and finally had Santa Clara on their heels. Towards the end of the game, the Tritons became more desperate, forcing balls in behind and looking for the equalizer. The Tritons would equalize the game after a great run down the wing from Kalani Takamura who would whip the ball across the box and after a few deflections, it would end up in the back of the net.
Five minutes were left on the clock, both teams knowing that a loss could end their tournament run early, so there was a sort of fear of pushing numbers forward. The Tritons however wanted the win, so they continued to push, but this almost backfired as a Santa Clara counter almost put the Tritons down 2-1. Jorge Mendoza came up huge as he made an incredible save to prevent Santa Clara from taking the lead and the game would ultimately end in a 1-1 draw.
A draw meant that both teams had a lot of life and that their futures in playoffs would come down to the final group stage match. On the other hand, UCSC had won their first game , so the current standing had UCSC in first, with UCSD and SCU tied for second, and Gonzaga in fourth. The next match would be against Gonzaga, and UCSD would have to win by a large margin to help facilitate their route to making it to the knockout round.
Heading into the game against Gonzaga, UCSD knew that the Bulldogs be mentally distraught as they lost their opening game, which meant that their chances of going through to the knockout round were extremely low. The Tritons knew they had to take advantage of this, so the plan was to find the back of the next within the first ten minutes, this would ultimately put the Bulldogs morale in the gutter, and then it was up to the Tritons to run a riot and score as many goals as possible. They were also aware that SCU and UCSC were playing at the same time.
In order to save legs for the final game, a few rotations were made in the lineup. The game would underway and in the first five minutes, Gonzaga showed great spirit as they were being brave and reaching the final third, but this would change once UCSD grew into the game. Their goal of finding the back of the next within the first ten minutes was accomplished as the runs in behind from the wingers would allow them to make crosses into the box, that would ultimately find the striker who didn’t fail to put the ball in the net. After UCSD took the lead, they only got better and better. It seemed like the team was clicking in every department, the passes were sharp, the movements were in sync, and each individual was being extremely brave. This would ultimately lead to UCSD scoring two more times, increasing their lead to 3-0. On the other field, UCSC and SCU were tied, so UCSD were currently in first place by goal differential. Since they were in first place due to goal differential, the Tritons knew that they needed to score more goals in order to establish their position in the group.
The half-time talk mainly focused on keeping everyone locked in, the team knew they could not be complacent with the result and the foot had to stay on the gas pedal. The second half would be underway and it didn’t take long for UCSD to increase their goal tally. The Tritons were able to score in any form, whether it was a header, long shot, first-time finish, or a tap in, everything they were doing was being executed perfectly. Fifteen minutes into the second half, and the Tritons found themselves up 6-0, so they knew they had done enough to satisfy their goal requirements, and that a victory in the final match would solidify their first place group finish. The rest of the match consisted of rotating players, along with holding possession and not exerting too much energy. The game would end 6-0 and the Tritons were aware that the game between SCU and UCSC ended in a draw.
The current group standing had UCSD in first place, with UCSC in second, SCU in third, and Gonzaga in last. The Tritons would face UCSC later on in the day, in hopes of reaching the knockout round. The Tritons knew that a victory was needed as SCU and UCSC could still go through, no risks could be taken.
Coming off of that massive 6-0 victory against Gonzaga, the Tritons only needed any kind of victory against UC Santa Cruz to secure a spot in the semis. The field, uneven and full of dirt patches, was not conducive to possession and clean play. Despite this, UCSD established themselves as the dominant team early in the first half and would not let go of that grip until the final whistle. Junior Lucas Venetoulias opened up the scoring in the first half from a well-timed header off a corner kick as the team gained even more control of the game. UCSD were seemingly so comfortable that little celebration came from a second goal from Kalani Takamura early in the second half, as if the boys had already seen the score. UCSD would stay in cruise control for the rest of the game, where it would end 2-0, pitting the Tritons against UCLA in the semis.
Unfortunately, the City of Irvine deemed the fields unplayable after a LIGHT rain Saturday night. Somehow, that included the turf fields. The rest of the tournament was cancelled and the remaining teams were unable to finish the tournament. UCSD, UCLA, USD, and USC as of April 29th are working with the organizers to find a solution, however the differing timelines between semester school and quarter schools are making a consensus solution problematic.
If this is the teams last game of the season, it was a well fought victory. Since the start of winter quarter the team went undefeated in the 8 games they played, 5 of which were dominant victories. They scored 26 goals and only conceded 7. Although unfortunate the Tritons could not see out the end of the tournament, they finished strong.