By Rick Banks
Daily Bruin Contributor
For the first and only time during the regular season, the UCLA
men’s water polo team will leave the state of California to
compete. They will head to Colorado Springs to participate in the
Air Force Tournament where they will face off against four teams
ranked among the top 20.
The Bruins head into this weekend’s action still on top of the
polls. They also bring with them the momentum from two victories in
the first week of Mountain Pacific Sports Federation play.
Saturday’s competition will pit UCLA against two top 10s, No. 9
UC Davis and eigth-ranked Air Force.
On Sunday, No. 18 Santa Clara and No. 10 UC San Diego will
square off with the Bruins, who are looking to emerge unscathed
from yet another weekend of tough competition.
In the past two weeks, the Bruins have faced off against six
teams, all ranked nationally in the top 20 and have won every time
in the pool.
Last weekend, UCLA defeated No. 11 UC Santa Barbara and No. 6
Pacific to improve their record to a perfect 6-0 overall, and 2-0
in the MPSF.
So far this season, the Bruins have dominated their opponents
offensively. They have scored 70 goals to their opponents 42 and
are shooting 56 percent from the field.
Junior Corbin Graham leads the team with 12 points in six games.
Graham, a utility player, has tallied at least once in all six
games this season and is third on the squad in shooting percentage,
scoring on 12 of 15 shots.
Three players are close to, or have eclipsed, their scoring
totals for all of last year. Senior Terry Baker has already topped
his scoring output for last season while seniors Jeff Porter and
Randy Wright are only one goal from surpassing their totals from a
season ago.
With the offense running on all cylinders, the Bruins have not
needed as much support from their defense, but they have gotten it
anyway.
Goalies Matt Swanson and Parsa Bonderson have combined to make
50 saves in 174 minutes of play, allowing seven goals per game.
With the Bruins operating well on both sides of the ball,
opposing teams have had their hands full.
Three times, UCLA has defeated teams by a margin of at least six
points. They have held all but one of their opponents under 10
points, eclipsing that mark four times themselves.
The work is cut out for four teams this weekend. It remains to
be seen if they can do what no one else this season has been able
to: contain the defending national champions.