Although the UCLA men’s water polo team finished third at
the SoCal Tournament this weekend and did not accomplish its lofty
goal of capturing the tournament title, the Bruins did prove they
belong with the top teams in the nation.
Faltering the week before against a sporadic UCSD offense, the
Bruins dominated the Tritons in the third-place match Sunday
afternoon at McDonald’s Swim Stadium at USC.
Defeating the Tritons 12-3 after a difficult 13-12 loss the week
before illustrated what the UCLA team is capable of when playing
its finest water polo.
And in spite of a tough Sunday morning loss to No. 2 Cal (8-6),
the Bruins looked more focused than they had the week prior.
“It’s good to have that win at the end of the
tournament, especially after that loss (to Cal) in the
morning,” redshirt freshman Scott Davidson said. “It is
a really big confidence-builder, and it shows us what we can do
after a hard loss. It says a lot about the type of team we
are.”
Davidson recorded six goals on the weekend, two each against
UCSD, Long Beach State and Cal.
The Bruins faced No. 5 Stanford on Saturday morning at the
Commerce Aquatics Center, shutting the Cardinal down with redshirt
freshman Chay Lapin in goal.
Lapin notched a career-high 13 saves to secure a 9-6 victory. He
also played solidly for the Bruins with another double-digit,
10-save game against UCSD.
“I feel really good about our defense this weekend,”
coach Adam Krikorian said. “Defense was the biggest point of
emphasis this week in practice, and for us to be able to execute
defensively is a good step for us.”
Following the Stanford win, UCLA defeated Long Beach State, 6-4,
projecting the Bruins into the semifinal game against the Cal
Bears.
It was Sunday morning when UCLA faltered. The Bruins came out
playing timidly, seeming to question or second-guess opportunities
to put points on the board.
“We seemed very nervous,” Krikorian said. “I
thought we were thinking a little bit too much instead of just
playing. When we got in front of the goal, it was obvious that that
was what was happening. When you can’t execute against a very
hard team, you will have a tough time winning.”
Rather than going into their final third-place match with a
defeatist attitude, the Bruins stepped up their game, in drastic
contrast to the water polo played a few hours earlier. With more
confidence and energy, they played some of their best water polo
all season.
Most notably, junior Marco Santos recorded a four-goal game
against San Diego, propelling the momentum forward with each point
scored.
“I was just trying to do my job,” Santos said.
“We walked into the game expecting much more than we did last
time. We were much more ready.”