No. 6 UCSD Earns Close Win Against No. 12 UC Irvine on Senior Day

LA JOLLA, Calif. - After struggling to take advantage of 6-on-5 situations against No. 4 Long Beach State on Thursday, the Tritons made the most of those opportunites on Saturday. With 3:13 left in the game, Lukas Syka converted on the man up to give No. 6 UC San Diego (13-9) a 10-9 win against No. 12 UC Irvine (13-10) at Canyonview Aquatic Center.

The Tritons scored four times on 6-on-5 plays in Saturday's victory.

After senior David Higginson scored on the opening possesion, the Anteaters countered with back-to-back goals. From that point UCSD spent most of the game trailing or tied with UC Irvine.

Matt Michalko, Josh Stiling, Syka and Higginson all notched a goal in the first quarter, but the Tritons still found themselves down 5-4.

Luca De Vivo opened the second quarter with a huge goal to tie things up at five apiece, but UC Irvine continued to answer back. Joe Dietrich tied up the match for the sixth time with 3:05 left in the quarter to even things out at the half.

Still, the Anteaters scored two-straight unanswered goals as the Tritons were down 8-6 for most of the third quarter. Dietrich eventually cut UCSD's deficit to one before the start of the fourth quarter.

On the first possesion of the fourth quarter, the Anteaters extended their lead to 9-7. But the Tritons were ready to make their comeback.

De Vivo scored the first goal of the quarter, while Higginson later tied it up at 9-9. Finally Syka found the back of the cage to score the game winning goal to conclude UCSD's regular season schedule.

All 10 goals came from seniors on Saturday with Dietrich, Syka, De Vivo and Higginson all recording two each. Goalie Cameron Ravanbach finished the day with 13 saves.

The Tritons will host two exhibitions on Nov. 15. The first match is scheduled for 10 a.m. against Sunset San Diego and the game against Olympic Club will follow shortly after at 12 p.m. UCSD will begin postseason play on Nov. 22 at 11:15 a.m. in Los Angeles. The Tritons have secured the No. 1 seed moving them straight to the semifinals.

BOX SCORE
UCSD 4 1 2 3 - 10
UCI 5 2 1 1 - 9

GOALS
UCSD: Joe Dietrich 2, Lukas Syka 2, Luca De Vivo 2, David Higginson 2, Josh Stiling 1, Matt Michalko 1
UCI: Lovre Milos 3, Kyle Trush 2, Chris Swieca 1, Jared Osborn 1, Miles Kalbus 1, Matt Skinner 1