Although the UCLA men’s water polo team has won 13 games
in a row and faces an opponent this weekend mired in a slump, the
Bruins still feel they can’t overlook anyone. Just two wins
away from clinching the regular season MPSF conference title, UCLA
knows it can’t let up now, not with the season entering its
most crucial point. “When you’re the No. 1 team in the
country, everyone’s going to give you their best
effort,” UCLA coach Adam Krikorian said. And the squad that
will give its best effort against UCLA on Saturday is UC Santa
Barbara, which is one of the surprise teams in the country this
year. “Every game from now on is important,” redshirt
sophomore attacker Logan Powell said. “UCSB has put up a very
good fight against a lot of good teams this year.” “We
definitely have to go out and be ready to play.” The Gauchos
started the year ranked No. 10 nationally, and have climbed all the
way up to No. 4. But they have lost their last two matches coming
into this weekend’s contest, being upset by Long Beach State
in triple-overtime and falling to No. 2 Stanford on Sunday.
“They’ve done really well,” Krikorian said.
“They’ve done better than a lot of people
expected.” A lot of the Gauchos’ success can be
attributed to the play of goalie Jon Bonafede. Earlier this year,
Bonafede pulled off an impressive feat by netting 21 saves in one
game ““ a season-high for any goalie on any team in the MPSF,
and a number unheard of by Krikorian at the collegiate level.
Bonafede also leads the country in saves per game with 10.6. In
comparison, UCLA’s Joseph Axelrad, an All-American goalie,
had set a career-high last week with 14 saves against Stanford.
“If (Bonafede) gets hot, you never know what can
happen,” Krikorian said. The Bruins will also have to stop
Brian Alexander, who has scored 51 goals this season, tied for most
in the MPSF conference with UCLA’s Brett Ormsby. That stat is
slightly deceiving, however, because UCSB has played five more
games than most teams in the country, including UCLA. In
comparison, Alexander is eighth in goals per game with 2.04, Ormsby
is second with 2.55, and Stanford’s Tony Azevedo is first
with 2.72. But with his prolific scoring, Alexander will be another
test for a solid Bruin defense, a unit that has shut down some of
the top scorers in the country this year. When the Bruins (18-2,
5-0 MPSF) step foot into the pool on Saturday in Santa Barbara
(17-8, 2-3), they may notice something strange. On one end of the
pool, for the last five meters by the goal, the pool depth is as
shallow as five-feet deep, which could give an advantage to tall
defenders in that area. To help prepare for that pool, Krikorian
moved one of the goals toward the shallow end in practice on
Thursday. Krikorian has also stressed 5-on-6 situations in practice
this week, as in UCLA’s latest game, Long Beach was 5-for-7
on extra man opportunities.
GAME TIME CHANGED: The time of Saturday’s
game at UC Santa Barbara was originally scheduled for 3 p.m., but
the match will now start at 2 p.m.