The UC San Diego Field Hockey drove up to Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo on Friday evening, December 2, to compete in the playoffs for the first time in many years. They were quickly introduced to the postseason as the team’s first game was Saturday morning against the Mustangs themselves. Starting off strong, the team dominated the game, pushing hard and leaving everything on the field. With a lucky shot on a corner, Cal Poly managed to score and leave the game at 1-0. In the second half, Erika Nilsson performed great as she blocked numerous goals from being scored. Unfortunately, UC San Diego lost to Cal Poly 0-2, leaving them competing for third place the following day.
On Sunday, the Tritons came out strong against Chico. Within the first ten minutes, first year Alberto Montilla managed to score two goals. Later on, Alberto went on to score 2 more times. There was excellent defense by Arshdeep Singh as well as Sabrina Gonzalez, stopping anything that came her way. The team communicated well and dominated the second half of the game, with a goal by second year Kiara Suzuki. The team played incredibly well together, and Vikas Chinnappa and Vinnu Bhardwaj made incredible offensive plays. Despite having finals the following week, UC San Diego came out strong and left everything on the field, claiming third place in playoffs with a final score of 5-2. Although they placed third, they look forward to next season and qualifying to playoffs again to compete for the first place victory.
