A clash of the Titans will take place this weekend when No. 1
Stanford will face No. 2 UCLA at the Rose Bowl Aquatic Center
Saturday.
It’s the second time UCLA has been ranked that high this
season.
“If people want to watch the two best teams in the nation
play each other, in the most physical and grueling sport, in the
span of 45 minutes, then this will be it,” UCLA head coach
Adam Krikorian said.
But there is room for debate: the Bruins (9-5, 1-2 Mountain
Pacific Sports Federation) have been ranked No. 4 and No. 7 in the
past. Nevertheless, this matchup has national attention.
Last week, Stanford (16-2, 2-1) beat UCLA in a 7-5 struggle, for
the fifth consecutive time. This is another rematch, just six days
later.
On Sunday, Bruin junior driver Albert Garcia held the
Cardinal’s best player, Tony Azevedo, scoreless for the first
time in his three-year collegiate career. But that was not enough
to win.
Garcia is confident that he can do it again, but he can only
try.
“He’s a player like anyone else, and he’s not
perfect,” Garcia said. “By defensively doing a good job
on them, Stanford is beatable.”
The national hype overlooks the game’s conference status,
making it even more important.
“It’s a big game and a must-win for us,”
senior defenseman Matt Flesher said.
“We need to execute on goals and stick to our game
plan.”
The Bruins are playing the best team in the country and will
have to play near-flawless water polo and convert on their one-man
advantage plays.
“A win is achieved by buying into the system that our
coaches have been showing us all year,” sophomore center Ted
Peck said. “We know one-on-one, we are better than
(Stanford), but we just need to take the gifts that they give
us.”
The Cardinal has earned its prestige over the last year for not
giving up presents to opponents.
“It’s probably going to be one of the toughest and
most intense games of the season,” Garcia said. “We had
a close one with them last week, and we now want to make a
statement.”