In what many of the UCLA women’s water polo players deemed
the biggest home game of the season, the conference clash on
Saturday between top-ranked UCLA and No. 2 USC was filled with
anticipation and expectations.
UCLA found itself in unknown territory early, though. Down by
two goals in the opening three minutes of play when Trojans Eszter
Gyori and Erika Figge propelled USC to an early lead, the Bruins
seemingly had the wind knocked out of them.
But, UCLA responded with an offensive blitz that dashed
USC’s hopes of scoring five consecutive unanswered goals as
the Bruins never looked back, cruising to an 11-6 victory in a
standing-room only crowd at Sunset Canyon Recreation Center.
Bruin sophomore driver Kelly Rulon, who scored the first of her
three goals late in the first quarter to tie the game at 2-2, said
she was not worried about the Trojans’ quick start.
“I have so much faith that we can always come back,”
Rulon said.
The victory against USC marks the third time this season that
the Bruins have defeated the Trojans.
Pointing to the Bruins’ early foul trouble, in which the
Bruins had 14 ejections to USC’s four, UCLA coach Adam
Krikorian downplayed the fact that his team may have started the
game somewhat lethargic.
“Those two early ejections just caught us by
surprise,” Krikorian said.
“And they just happened to capitalize on those two
6-on-5’s that they had.”
But with UCLA’s depth on its bench, the Trojans could not
find a way to take advantage of the Bruins’ foul
troubles.
The Bruins were able to call on such players as junior Lauren
Heineck to step into the game and provide a lift defensively.
In coach Krikorian’s mind, the solid play of his bench
players was an important key to winning the game against their
crosstown rivals.
“We got in foul trouble, but it just shows the depth we
have,” Krikorian said.
“Lauren Heineck, Jillian Kraus and Molly Cahill, those
three girls are the unsung heroes of the game.”
When USC cut UCLA’s lead to 6-4 in the third quarter, it
was the freshman driver Jillian Kraus who kept the game out of
reach for good from the Trojans.
Following Kraus’ goal, Rulon extended the lead to 8-4 and
forced USC coach Jovan Vavic to call for a time-out. Minutes later,
an irate Vavic would receive a yellow card for screaming at the
officials.
At 15-0 for the season, the Bruins are now more than halfway to
accomplishing what the Trojans did last season when they captured
the national championship.
Going 29-0 in 2004, USC became the first women’s water
polo team to go undefeated for an entire season.
But Krikorian refuses to ponder the possibility of going
undefeated this season.
“We don’t care about going undefeated,”
Krikorian said. “The most important thing is for us to play
well at the end of the season.”