Cougars fell short of a late comeback, suffering an upset loss Friday night to the University of California-San Diego.

Washington State came into the game, coming off back-to-back solid performances despite a loss in both contests. However, a slow start to this game proved to be a long-term problem causing them to fall to the worst team in the Pac-8.

WSU was held scoreless through the first 20 minutes. UCSD’s goalie Isaac Laddon was ostensibly not seeing the puck well, but the puck never found the back of his net. Defensive clears were also able to aid him to a first frame shutout.

The Cougars goaltender Alexei Kuhl performed yet another game with under a .900 save percentage. Although he held off strong scoring efforts, WSU has not been defensively sound enough to support him in the blue paint.

WSU only held one lead in the entire 60-minute span. It was short-lived though, with UCSD’s point leader Alex Tatoian netting his eighth goal of the season to tie the game less than a minute later.

WSU is playing in their last regular season, before the Pac-8 playoffs that begin on Feb. 7. The Cougars are in dire need of a bounce back against a lackluster Tritons team, in order to pick up confidence heading into their hosted playoff game in years.

UCSD showed grit and tenacity against the Cougs in the first contest, showing they have nothing to lose with both teams seemingly locked in at their respective spots in the standings. The Tritons outworked the opposition and were able to put more on the line than the Cougars.

Laddon showed an incredible game, registering his first win. However, the Cougars offense could be due with a reset. Between Bushkin, Carlson, Rayner and company, WSU could strike early and often after keeping a short memory from less than 24 hours ago.

The Cougars will battle it out once more with the University of California-San Diego at Aliso Viejo Ice Palace, Saturday at 8:30 p.m.