With nine seconds left in the second quarter of the No. 3 UCLA men’s water polo team’s game against No. 1 USC, Trojan center Shea Buckner fired a 5-meter penalty shot toward the UCLA goal.
A goal would have sent the two teams into halftime tied at four apiece and quieted the loud Bruin home crowd, which had packed itself into every square foot of available space beside the Sunset Canyon Recreation Center pool. A goal might also have moved the Trojans one step closer to continuing their undefeated season and left the Bruins questioning if they might be headed for another third-quarter swoon and gut-wrenching, one-goal loss.
UCLA sophomore goalie Chay Lapin reached up and swatted the ball out of the air, sending it flying harmlessly above the cage. Question answered.
It was a similar story most of Sunday afternoon. The Bruins (16-5, 3-2 MPSF) built a small early lead over the top-ranked Trojans (13-1, 4-1 MPSF), and slowly added to it en route to a 9-5 victory. The Trojans had opportunities to pull even, but whenever they threatened, the Bruins responded with either a goal of their own or a smothering defensive stop in support of Lapin, who finished with a career-high 15 saves.
“I thought we played great,” Lapin said. “(Our defense) funneled the ball to me, which is a big reason why I was able to do well.”
Lapin’s block of Buckner helped set the tone for the Bruins heading into the second half. In previous losses to higher-ranked teams this season, UCLA had struggled in the third quarter. But in this game the Bruins blanked the Trojans in the third frame, while scoring goals from redshirt sophomore Scott Davidson and junior Krsto Sbutega to stake themselves to a 6-3 lead. The Bruins then went on to outscore the Trojans 3-2 in the fourth quarter.
“It gives us confidence, the way that we played the whole game from the beginning to the end,” said Sbutega, who finished with two goals. “It was great; we were consistent for the first time in a while. We played all four quarters all-out.”
A major part of that consistency can be credited to the Bruins’ six-on-five play and defense. UCLA successfully converted four of their one-man advantage situations, while holding USC to only three goals out of eight chances. Even when the teams were even, the Bruins were able to keep USC from building much offensive momentum by applying heavy pressure on defense.
“We had a really good game plan going into today,” coach Adam Krikorian said. “I felt really confident about it, and I think the guys felt really confident about it. We were able to apply a lot of pressure defensively. We executed … (and) they had a hard time executing. I feel like that largely had to do with the way we played defense.”
Krikorian also praised Lapin’s play in the goal. In addition to the blocked penalty shot in the second quarter, Lapin blocked another 5-meter shot in the final minute of the fourth quarter to seal the victory.
“(Lapin) played just amazing,” Krikorian said. “I think today he proved he’s the best goalie in the country. That’s his first big-time game, and he’s a big-time player. It’s going to be nothing but up from here.
“It gives us a lot of confidence defensively (when he’s playing well). We’re able to use our speed a little more, and we can try and cheat a little more on the counter attack.”
Now at 3-2 in Mountain Pacific Sports Federation play, the Bruins will need to try and build on the momentum from this game as they head into the final three games of their conference schedule and the season-ending MPSF tournament.
Even with the win over the Trojans, UCLA will probably need to finish no worse than second at the MPSF tournament to qualify for the NCAA Tournament. But after snapping a four-game losing streak to their crosstown rival, the Bruins are feeling a lot better about their chances.
“(This win) gives us the confidence that we know we can beat anyone on any given day,” Sbutega said. “So going in to the rest of MPSF (play), we have to do the best we can to beat all the teams. Then going in to the MPSF (Tournament), we know that we can beat anybody.”