The men’s water polo team heads south to Orange County this weekend for the SoCal Tournament fresh off two consecutive convincing wins, but coach Adam Krikorian isn’t happy.
A visibly displeased Krikorian exited practice Wednesday without his customary post-scrimmage address, frustrated by a lack of intensity from his players.
When asked how he would diagnose the day’s session, he said simply: “It was awful. Everything was lacking. Intensity, intelligence.”
Senior Justin Johnson noticed the problem as well.
“Today’s practice was pretty bad. Guys weren’t paying attention. It’s frustrating,” Johnson said. “I’d love to be able to pick everybody up.”
The No. 4 ranked Bruins will need to find that lost intensity if they hope to make a run at the SoCal Tournament title, a tournament they finished third in a year ago. UCLA will have a tough time even making the title game due to the talent level of participating squads, including No. 1 USC, No. 2 Stanford, and No. 3 California. Needless to say, the Bruins face a difficult draw.
“This is a tough tournament. You have to play four games in two days,” Krikorian said.
The Bruins will open against Pacific, and could face a rematch with Pepperdine, a team that UCLA defeated in overtime earlier this season, in the second round.
“Pacific is a dangerous team to play in the first round. Pepperdine is going to be a very difficult game as well,” Krikorian said.
While the Bruins have emphasized not looking too far ahead, team depth may come into play if they make it to Sunday’s games. Johnson, UCLA’s leading goal scorer of the season, emphasized the importance of this tournament to the remainder of the season.
“Ultimately this tournament is going to make or break our season,” Johnson said. “It would set us up really well going into the end of the season.”
A SoCal tournament title would go a long way toward improving the Bruins’ seeding heading into the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation conference championship in November. When asked about the SoCal Tournament’s significance, Krikorian confirmed the words of his senior leader.
“This tournament is huge for everyone involved,” he said.
Johnson has adapted nicely to his role as a veteran leader on this UCLA squad, and hopes to instill a sense of confidence and calm this weekend.
“Hopefully I can show my leadership in the water,” Johnson said. “Guys look up to me. I want to be a model of how the game is supposed to be played.”
As far as game adjustments go, Krikorian stressed the importance of opening the second half strongly, pointing to a continuing trend of less-than-stellar third quarters this season.
“We’ve really struggled all year long in the third,” Krikorian said. “We need to respond after halftime and come out with the same energy and enthusiasm that we had in the first quarter.”
And how did Krikorian sum up what his team’s performance at the SoCal Tournament could mean for the rest of their season?
“After this weekend, we will know exactly where we stand.”