What seemed to be just another bout with a lowly conference team
suddenly became a reminder for the undefeated UCLA women’s
water polo team that it can’t overlook any opponent.
The Bruins, the top-ranked team in the country, came out
lethargic, frustrated and just not ready to play. Yet UCLA relied
on talent alone and still managed to pull off a 13-8 victory over
the Rainbow Wahine on Thursday at Sunset Recreation Center.
“You could tell we weren’t sharp,” UCLA coach
Adam Krikorian said. “I’ll take the responsibility. I
was a little too relaxed during the game instead of expecting and
demanding a little bit more from my team.”
The Bruins (9-0, 2-0 MPSF) lacked communication during the first
half, getting beat on several plays at two meters. They
weren’t pressuring the ball. Their mainstay of
counter-attacking was reduced to paddling the ball up the pool.
Passing wasn’t crisp and they weren’t playing like a
team that expects to go undefeated and win the NCAA
championship.
As a result, Hawai’i (2-5, 1-2), a physical team with
eight international players, kept pace by outhustling and
outmuscling the Bruins to forge a 4-4 tie with 3:54 to go in the
second period.
“I was definitely frustrated during that game,”
junior driver Thalia Munro said. “We never got into the game,
never got into the flow. I don’t think we were mentally or
physically too prepared to play that physical of a game. We were
caught off guard.”
While most of the Bruins were deterred, the veteran leadership
and arm of senior center defender Natalie Golda, the defensive
prowess of Munro and the consistent play of sophomore goalie Emily
Feher, who had eight saves, kept Hawai’i at bay and sparked a
3-0 run at the end of the second half and start of the third
period.
“When I get fired up, I play a little bit better and a
little harder,” said Golda, who finished with three goals.
“And in the second half I was fired up. I didn’t want
this team to come into our house and trade goals with us. I took it
upon myself (to score).”
Many Bruins expressed during practice this week that the team
was preparing heavily for this weekend’s UC Santa Barbara
Invitational and not Hawai’i, and UCLA came out flat and
uninspired. But, with five games in the next three days, the Bruins
will have to be sharp to avoid allowing No. 2 USC and No. 3
Stanford to overtake them.
The one thing the Bruins were reminded of after their game
against Hawai’i, and what they will definitely keep in mind
this weekend, is that no team is just going to roll over.
“We have to take it one game at a time. This game showed
us this,” Munro said. “Every team comes out to play us.
We just have to make sure we handle our business.”
The first chance to see if the Bruins learned anything will be
their pair of games today in Santa Barbara, the first starting at 7
a.m. against No. 19 Princeton.