It was a wild weekend for the Bruins, a roller-coaster ride of ups and downs twisting throughout Southern California.
The ride began Saturday afternoon at UCLA’s Sunset Canyon, where the No. 3 Bruins fell to the No. 7 Pepperdine Waves 7-6 in six overtime periods.
The Bruins got an early lead in the first half, but Pepperdine was able to battle back from a 3-1 deficit to end regulation with the game tied 4-4.
The game then slid into two overtime periods of three minutes each. During the first, Pepperdine was able to gain the advantage over the Bruins and led 5-4.
In the second overtime period, the Waves again were able to find the back of the cage, leading with a two-point cushion of 6-4, the widest margin of the day.
However, in less than a minute, Bruin sophomores Tyler Jemmett and Scott Davidson each scored to tie the game.
Fans were then treated to four sudden-death overtime periods, where the clock is set to three minutes, and the first team to score wins the game.
After almost eleven minutes with no change in score for either team, Pepperdine was finally able to edge past UCLA to score their seventh goal.
The loss was difficult for the Bruins, especially seniors Matt Kellogg, Marco Santos, Justin Johnson, Cameron Smith and Matthew Jacobs, for whom Saturday’s matchup against Pepperdine marked their last home game.
“Obviously you want to leave this pool with a happy memory,” Johnson said. “But it is still just another game, and it was upsetting to lose.”
Saturday’s game will be remembered as a tale of incredible defense.
While the Bruins were not able to execute offensively as they normally do, it was obvious that their defense, led by sophomore goalie Chay Lapin, was a force to be reckoned with.
“Both goalies played phenomenal,” coach Adam Krikorian said. “We just had a really hard time offensively. I’m happy how we played defensively, and I’m happy with how we battled back, especially down by two in the second overtime period. I’m just not happy with how we executed offensively.”
“I was definitely nervous,” Lapin said. “It was a good experience to be in that sort of situation, especially with the conference tournament next weekend.”
The Waves also handed the Bruins a physically demanding game. Both teams suffered an exceptional number of ejections and fouls. In the third overtime period, Krikorian was handed a red card and asked to leave the bench area.
“This was such a brutal game,” Krikorian said. “It was a really difficult game to play. I’m glad I was coaching it and not playing in it.
“At that stage of the game, there was no coaching involved. It was about the players and who was going to finish and who wasn’t. Sitting on the side, I was just wondering to myself. I think I let my emotions get the better of me and I should make sure that won’t happen again.”
Rebounding from Saturday’s loss, the Bruins traveled to No. 8 Long Beach State and defeated the 49ers 9-7.
UCLA led the Beach throughout the entire game, showcasing a more active offense than that which was present the previous day.
At the end of the half, the Bruins were up 8-4. In the second half, however, the Bruins’ hold on the game slackened, as Long Beach outscored them 3-1.
In the end however, the Bruins were still able to come out victorious and take home a much needed win.
Next weekend UCLA will head up north for the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation tournament in Berkeley.
The Bruins will have to win the conference tournament if they want a place in the NCAA Tournament the first weekend of December.
Unfortunately, this weekend’s loss to Pepperdine will affect the Bruins seeding in the tournament.
“Hopefully it fires us up a little more,” Krikorian said. “Hopefully it pisses us off a little bit, lights a fire under us. We can use it as motivation for next weekend. Our confidence shouldn’t waver in the least bit, but I think our concentration and our focus should be improved.”