This weekend could determine the Bruins’ season.
Win three, and UCLA has the NCAA championship within its
grasp.
Falter against any opponent, and UCLA can practically say
goodbye to the NCAA tournament.
“This is the biggest week of the year for us,”
junior goalie Joseph Axelrad said. “We’ll have to
bring our A-game to the table.”
UCLA coach Adam Krikorian remains confident, as his No. 3 Bruins
will face No. 6 Pepperdine in the first round of the MPSF
tournament.
“Somebody has to win, why not us?” Krikorian
said.
“Everyone is faced with the same situation this weekend,
make it or break it. We had some disappointing losses in the
beginning, but with a good tournament outing we can erase all the
bad we’ve gone through since the beginning of the
season.”
UCLA has squared off against Pepperdine three times during the
regular season. The Waves lead the head-to-head battle 2-1, but the
two losses the Bruins suffered were early on in the season. The
lone victory for the Bruins was a 7-6 overtime victory two weeks
ago.
“We feel good about ourselves,” Krikorian
said. “The second half of the season we’ve played
great. We feel we’re one of the best teams in the nation and
we’re peaking at the right time going into the conference
tournament.”
Pepperdine’s record (17-7, 3-5 MPSF) may be misleading at
first glance, but its seasonal conference statistics might cause
some doubt in the mind of the Bruins.
Pepperdine is ranked No. 1 in defense at 5.63 goals against
average and No. 3 in offense averaging 10.11 gpg.
“The facts show the kind of talent they have on this
team,” Krikorian said. “They are a dangerous team, no
question about it. Their starting six is as good as any in the
country and one mistake here can cost us the game; one great play
can decide the outcome for us.”
In the three games that the Bruins played early on in the season
against the Waves, Pepperdine’s size and aggressiveness were
apparent.
“They play a physical style of game, they are strong, and
they have tremendous size on us,” Krikorian
said. “We’ve struggled with them in the past.
They’ve been more physical, and they’ve pushed us
around.”
The Bruin’ defense has been superb in the second half of
the season allowing a second best, 6.09 gaa. But it’s been
the play of Axelrad, who is third in the conference with 5.86 gaa
and 6.67 svpg, that has been stellar.
“One key for us this week to counter their aggressiveness
will be to “˜play in the now,’ Krikorian said.
“We’ve got to worry about now and do what we do best,
which is defense and countering. Â We’ve got to create
havoc with our speed and quickness.”
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Host UCLA and seven other qualified teams will be vying for a
guaranteed spot and an at-large bid from Nov. 28 to 30 at the
luxurious indoor pool at Belmont Plaza in Long Beach.