After letting a late-game lead over UC Irvine slip into a
defeat, the UCLA men’s water polo team rebounded in great
fashion, defeating No. 5 Pepperdine in front of a friendly home
crowd Saturday afternoon.
The No. 6 Anteaters outlasted and ultimately outplayed the No. 3
Bruins in a highly physical contest in front of a large crowd at
the Anteater Aquatics Center in Irvine on Thursday night.
The Bruins (4-2 MPSF), who had won the previous two matches
against the Anteaters (5-2), were unable to maintain a two-point
lead in the fourth quarter, resulting in an 8-7 loss.
On Saturday afternoon, however, the Bruins were able to execute
and maintain a dominant stance against the Waves throughout the
entire game. Despite the slower tempo, which resulted from frequent
delays due to cap malfunctions, UCLA pulled out a 7-5 upset over
No. 5 Pepperdine.
“We played smart today,” UCLA coach Adam Krikorian
said of Saturday’s match. “We did nothing exceptional
or fantastic, but we played with intelligence on both offense and
defense. Today we were able to execute, and that made the
difference in the results of our two games.”
The Bruins received key contributions from an array of players
in Thursday’s match, in which each of UCLA’s seven
goals was scored by a different player. But the compilation of
goals was not enough to usurp the momentum of the Irvine team.
“Irvine had a great crowd,” Krikorian said.
“We got off to a great start, and I thought we were very
well-prepared.
“We got away from the game plan when they got physical,
and we didn’t respond well. It was tough to stop their
momentum.”
UCLA quickly took the lead in the first quarter with two
unanswered goals, and the Bruins were up by three going into the
second half.
Only once did the Bruins trail the Anteaters, but those 40
seconds were crucial, as they marked the end of regulation
play.
“Irvine was a weird game,” redshirt freshman Krsto
Sbutega said. “They were really fired up and played physical,
but we should be able to pull out a win with a 7-5 lead in the last
quarter.”
On Saturday, in front of a much friendlier and less boisterous
crowd, the Bruins did what they could not do Thursday. This time,
Sbutega was the key catalyst in destroying any chance Pepperdine
had to further hurt the Bruins’ record.
Sbutega, a Yugoslavia native who recently took a starting role
on the team after junior Christian Pulido’s shoulder injury,
tallied three goals for UCLA, proving himself highly capable of
filling a leading role and producing results for the Bruins.
“Krsto is a great player,” redshirt freshman Patrick
Morrison said. “His intensity and style of play adds
different elements to the game and really helps us out a
lot.”
In addition to Sbutega’s goals, Morrison, redshirt junior
Logan Powell and sophomores Marco Santos and Justin Johnson chipped
in a goal apiece Saturday to secure the UCLA victory.
In front of the net, redshirt junior goalkeeper Will Didinger
tallied seven saves in both games.
The loss at Irvine will likely lessen the team’s chances
of a shot at an NCAA Tournament bid, but with No. 1 USC traveling
to Sunset Canyon Recreation Center this Saturday, the Bruins may
have a shot at upsetting the Trojans.
A victory over USC would extend UCLA’s home-game winning
streak to 21 while further shaking up the Mountain Pacific Sports
Federation conference and national rankings.