Though some members of the UCLA men’s water polo team are
itching to dive back into the pool after a weeklong layoff, coach
Adam Krikorian views the time off as beneficial rather than
rust-inducing. “When you’re at the end of the season
and you’ve played this many games, you feel re-energized with
the time off,” Krikorian said. “It allowed us to get
healthy and recharge both physically and mentally.” The
Bruins, who last played against UC Irvine on Nov. 14, will play
their first game of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation
tournament this Friday against UCSB in Stanford. Both the MPSF
tournament and NCAA tournament will be held at Stanford, and though
larger crowds are expected for postseason matches, the Bruins
aren’t worried about playing in what is considered enemy
territory. “Home field advantage would really only come into
play if we get to the final round with Stanford,” Krikorian
said. “They would probably have a slight advantage, but it
doesn’t really affect us much. We get very excited to play on
road and we play well in front of hostile crowds. This team just
really enjoys playing. They’ve missed playing this weekend
and are anxious to play this weekend.”
MANNING UP: The Bruins have been working on
defending extra-man situations during practice in preparation for
postseason play. At the beginning of the season, defending against
the opponents’ extra attacker was considered one of the
Bruins’ few weaknesses. But since then, UCLA has showed vast
improvement in defending its net. “We’ve really
improved in defensive extra-man situations especially,”
Krikorian said. “It’s a really important aspect of
postseason play. Everything builds off of defensive
effort.”
PROTECTING THE GOAL: Goalie Joe Axelrad will
see most, if not all, of the playing time this weekend, despite the
intense schedule of the tournament. “Joe’s in excellent
shape, the best shape of his life,” Krikorian said.
“The more shots he sees, the more comfortable he gets out
there.” In his two last games against UC Irvine and USC,
Axelrad had a total of 18 saves.