Jackson Boettner scored four goals in each game Friday, and No. 12 UC San Diego left the Gary Troyer Tournament with two decisive wins. The Tritons beat Redlands 15-5 in the morning and Pomona-Pitzer 16-10 later at Haldeman Pool, improving to 11-4 overall before the schedule turns to Big West play next week.
The first match was settled from the opening sprint. Mason Presley scored two minutes in, Boettner followed twice and freshman Bryan Shapirshteyn converted a power play with one second left in the quarter. A 4-0 lead became 7-2 by halftime. UCSD then scored the first three goals of the third period, removing most of the remaining pressure before a five-goal fourth.
Boettner finished the Redlands game with four goals and an assist. Presley had three goals and two assists. Seven of UCSD's 15 goals came with a player advantage, an efficient conversion rate that punished the Bulldogs' exclusions. The Tritons also led 27-15 in shots and 13-7 in steals. Alex Hegeman made three saves while all five Redlands goals came from different players.
There was a significant return inside the scoring line. Landon Akerstrom played for the first time since September 2025 after an injury and scored in the second quarter. His appearance gives UCSD another option as the competition tightens. The tournament opposition was highly ranked within Division III—Redlands No. 2 and Pomona-Pitzer No. 3—but the coming league tests sit in Division I.
Pomona-Pitzer stayed within one goal after the first quarter, trailing 4-3. UCSD broke the game open across the next two periods, outscoring the Sagehens 9-4. Boettner again scored four. Christian Hammonds added a hat trick and an assist, Reef Lippa distributed four assists, and Presley produced two goals with two assists. The teams each took 24 shots, but the Tritons converted six more.
UCSD's middle-period push was nine goals to four, building a 13-7 lead before the fourth. The Sagehens matched the Tritons 3-3 in the final period, but by then the useful contest was over. Gregg Moore made five saves for Pomona-Pitzer. The equal shot count and unequal score place the difference at the end of possessions: UCSD turned two-thirds of its attempts into goals, while the Sagehens converted fewer than half.
That contrast separates the two victories. Against Redlands, UCSD created 12 more shots and forced more turnovers. Against Pomona-Pitzer, shot volume was even, so finishing made the difference. One game was territorial; the other was clinical. In both, Boettner supplied the same four-goal endpoint, giving the offense a stable center while teammates changed around him.
The official recaps and box scores document the sequence but do not turn two Division III wins into evidence about the entire conference race. UCSD opens Big West play Oct. 9 at reigning champion Long Beach State, then faces USC in Los Angeles the next day. Friday improved the record and returned Akerstrom to the water. The next weekend will test whether the same power-play execution and finishing survive a substantially sharper level of resistance.