Lack of experience has ailed the UCLA women’s water polo
team all season.
It has also been glaringly apparent for the Bruins that relying
on sheer talent would not get them past the top-ranked teams in the
nation.
The team needed experience if it wanted to do that.
But experience is exactly what the No. 3 Bruins have gained in
the past month. In the process, they have managed to amass a
nine-game winning streak.
However, it wasn’t until this past Saturday’s 5-3
victory at No. 4 Long Beach State that UCLA (19-3, 8-1 MPSF) has
been able to prove that it has enough experience to defeat a
championship-caliber team.
“We weren’t scared,” said freshman goalie
Emily Feher. “We took chances and we didn’t hold back.
There’s no doubt in my mind that we can beat any of the top
teams.”
The 49ers (15-6, 5-4) have thus far suffered two difficult
overtime losses to both USC and Stanford, but no one has ever
questioned the team’s talent.
“If Long Beach isn’t the best offensive team in the
country, they are a close second,” said UCLA coach Adam
Krikorian. “But I felt like we did very well defensively and
that we controlled the game from the get go.”
Heading into the second half, the Bruins vaulted to an early 3-1
lead over the 49ers.
But Long Beach stormed back in the third quarter and cut the
lead down to one when junior driver Angelica Garcia, the 49ers
leading scorer on the year, notched a goal at the 5:45 mark.
The one goal spread would be the closest Long Beach would get to
UCLA as Bruin sophomore center defender Kristina Kunkel connected
on a goal late in the third period to stretch her team’s lead
even further.
With balanced scoring from five different Bruins, UCLA would
maintain its two goal lead for the remainder of the match over a
stagnant 49ers’ defense.
“It’s exciting and a positive for our team where we
know that any single one of our players can beat you,”
Krikorian said. “It makes for a well balanced option, and
teams can’t just focus on one player because all of our girls
can score.”
“On defense (Long Beach) looked pretty lazy on
tape,” sophomore center defender Lauren Heineck said.
“So we took advantage of their bad positioning.”
Defensively, UCLA had one of its best outings of the season.
Most noticeable was the play of Feher, who finished with nine
saves.
Feher and the rest of the Bruin defense did a stunning job
fending off Long Beach’s potent offense.
“It seemed like we were one step ahead,” Feher said.
“We were shutting them down everywhere, and everything seemed
so simple, no longer frantic. We were all on the same page and most
of all, we played with confidence.”
With the conference victory over Long Beach, UCLA edges closer
to Stanford for second place in the conference, while undefeated
USC still remains atop the league.
UCLA pulled off the victory despite going 0-for-6 on its 6-on-5
power play, while Long Beach State was 3-for-7 on its own power
play.