UCLA women’s water polo coach Adam Krikorian stroked his
neck, wiped his brow, and managed to muster an eerie smile.
Senior Thalia Munro ripped off her cap in frustration, never
once lifting her chin. It was one of those days the Bruins
won’t forget.
With chest bumps, high fives and hugs being exchanged just 20
feet away from UCLA’s bench, crosstown rival USC celebrated a
6-4 home conference victory on Saturday, improving its record to an
undefeated 22-0.
Despite the loss, Krikorian was not upset.
“I think we actually played very well, believe it or
not,” Krikorian said. “The score might not indicate it,
but to be honest, I think we controlled the game.”
Yet they had no answers for USC. And that is troubling for the
defending champion Bruins, who only have three regular-season games
to figure out how to beat USC before the conference tournament.
Asked if the team is worried, UCLA junior and leading scorer
Kelly Rulon tried to look at the positives.
“Well, I mean, it’s kind of already determined. With
us beating LMU, we are almost guaranteed an (NCAA at-large
bid),” Rulon said. “Our main concern is Stanford on
Saturday, and then most likely we’ll match up against
Stanford in the NCAA semifinals.”
Putting off how to beat the Trojans may prove costly, as no one
has had any success against the top-ranked Trojans (22-0, 10-0
MPSF) this season.
USC is attempting to mimic the very thing the No. 3 Bruins
(21-3, 8-1) did a year ago ““ go undefeated. The Bruins went
33-0 last season.
But USC is not unfamiliar with being perfect. In 2004 the
Trojans not only won the national championship, but went 29-0 in
the process. The Bruins and Trojans are the only two programs to
have gone undefeated in the brief four-year history of the NCAA
Championship.
“I think we are a lot stronger than we were actually (in
2004),” said USC junior Brittany Hayes.
The Trojans showed that on Saturday. USC never trailed in the
match. In the first two periods, UCLA was getting pushed around,
with USC leading 3-1 after junior Erika Figge scored on a skip shot
with 2:52 in the half.
The Bruins’ shot selection was poor, and USC goalkeeper
Whitney Morgan didn’t even need to move around in the cage to
block shots. UCLA’s shots landed right in her lap. The Bruins
couldn’t swarm fast enough at two-meters, giving up two goals
to the Trojans’ center position.
It seemed as if Munro, who had a crucial steal and goal in the
final minute of the second period to shrink USC’s lead to
3-2, was one of the few players to show up for the match ““
and Krikorian still saw room for her to improve.
“She picked up an ejection early but played great
throughout the game. But she has to put those shots away that she
got,” Krikorian said. “She would admit it. She needs to
focus and put those opportunities away.”
USC went on a 3-1 run in the second half, which included a
back-breaking goal by Hayes from nine meters out in the fourth
quarter. The ball nipped the top of the cage as the shot clock
almost ran dry and fell in behind UCLA goalkeeper Emily Feher for a
6-3 lead.
“I just threw up a shot, and I honestly didn’t even
see it go in,” said Hayes, who led USC with two goals.
Sophomore driver Gabrielle Domanic led the Bruins with two
goals.
As USC hopes to continue its perfect season, Krikorian feels
there is a distinct difference between these two champions.
“There was a lot of fanfare and outside pressure put on
our team last year, more than what was put on this year’s USC
team. Coming off the Olympics, we were coming off a season in 2004
that was missing most of our players. For (USC) they haven’t
lost anyone, the team from last season is the same this
year,” Krikorian said.
“They don’t have the same expectations we had last
year. But they’ll start getting (more pressure) if they keep
winning.”