Tritons Fall Short on Road Trip
Los Angeles, CA
Written By: Ryan Jensen
On Friday the UC San Diego Tritons started their weekend off playing against the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos at UCSB’s brand new rink. In a valiantly fought match the Tritons fell to their UC rivals 10-4. This was a tough one for the Tritons to swallow as the vast majority of the team felt the game was not their best. They were led by their captain, Dylan Shives, who did his best to ignite the Triton’s flame with a hat trick, but to no avail. On the plus side, it was Czech rookie Adam Klas’ first goal as a Triton, and he seems to be a natural fit to this new UC San Diego squad that consists of equal amounts rookies and veterans. With a short bench this year, the Tritons will look to play tough as the season progresses. At this point they hold a 1-1-0 record and look to improve upon that.
On Sunday the UC San Diego Tritons faced off against the Cal State Northridge Matadors in a match off at the Staple’s Center. The game was an all-around blast as the Tritons traveled to the stadium to follow up the LA Kings’ game with a game of their own. Stepping out onto that world famous ice, the ice that many great players have also skated on, was something spectacular. And as the Tritons began their warm ups, one could feel the pure awe that they had as they fired pucks off from the Kings’ crest at center ice. The Tritons once again played with a short bench consisting of eight skaters and two goalies, and they fought as valiantly as they could. Rookie sensation Liam Jablonski scored a hat trick for the Tritons off of some brilliant passes from captain Dylan Shives, who ended the game with a goal and three assists. However, even with these great efforts, the Tritons faced a tough adversary, and after entering the third tied up 3-3, their tiredness got the better of them and by the end of the game the score was 7-4. The Tritons were proud of the first two periods, but the third was a rough one, and thus the Tritons were handed their second loss of the season to make their record 1-2-0. They hope to have a bounce back performance on October 30th against Chapman to end their two game losing streak.