This weekend, the No. 4 UCLA men’s water polo team will travel north to face No. 3 California in a key MPSF conference matchup at the Spieker Aquatics Complex.
The Bruins (9-4, 1-1 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) are coming off a 14-2 beat down of Brown last Sunday despite suffering a three-game losing streak leading up to that game, including a 12-11 overtime loss to the Bears (11-4, 0-1 MPSF) in the SoCal Tournament’s third-place game.
“It’s a good opportunity to show we can rebound off a disappointing weekend last weekend and that we can play some good water polo,” coach Adam Krikorian said. “That’s our main focus going into the weekend.”
The squad will have its hands full against the potent Cal lineup boasting returners from its back-to-back national-championship-winning teams from 2006 and 2007.
Senior attacker Frank Reynolds leads the Bears with 23 goals, and junior attacker Spencer Warden, a 2007 Association of Collegiate Water Polo Coaches third-team All-American, is close behind with 20 goals. Sophomore goalkeeper Jacob McIntosh is third in the conference averaging 10 saves per match.
UCLA will counter with redshirt senior attacker Krsto Sbutega, who has tallied 25 goals in 13 games, and redshirt junior attacker Scott Davidson, who has scored 16 times this season. Redshirt junior Chay Lapin will protect the cage and is right behind McIntosh at fourth in the conference with 9.92 saves per game. After a rough couple of weeks, the Bruins are focusing on what they are doing in the pool rather than on their opponents. Things on their end need to be tuned up first.
“I think just staying focused and being prepared mentally and physically (will help us),” redshirt freshman center Brett Hays said. “I think that comes with practice and just being ready in even morning practices and conditioning. We just have to go all out from here on out.”
Recently, the team has fallen behind early in games and has had to claw its way back. In the last game against Cal, the Bruins were down five goals before the final period. A hard-fought fourth quarter sent the game into overtime, but not getting too far behind will be important this weekend.
“The reason we got off to bad starts wasn’t really about playing poorly, it was about execution,” Krikorian said. “We didn’t do a good job in front of the goal, especially when we got some good opportunities offensively. … I think that’s going to be the key. From the get-go, we’re going to have to challenge their defense and challenge their goalie and put up some good shots on goal.”
The following day, UCLA will have another game, this time hosted by No. 17 Pacific at Chris Kjeldsen Pool in Stockton. The Tigers (10-13, 0-2 MPSF) lost 10-4 to No. 2 Stanford earlier this week and will play UC Davis tonight before their game against the Bruins.
At the NorCal Tournament in September, UCLA defeated Pacific 11-6, but the game this time around may not be as easy. For being ranked 17th in the nation , the Tigers do not play like it.
“They play a very controlled and disciplined style of game,” Krikorian said. “They force you to beat them. They’re not going to make many mistakes and leave open goals for us. We’re going to have our work cut out, especially after a tough game after Cal.”
Despite the hard times that have fallen on the team, it is still early in the season , and there is time for improvement. Practice this week has been efficient, and the team is not letting the recent struggles bring them down.
“It’s definitely not over for us,” Hays said. “We have to put it behind us and move forward. Take each practice at a time, and hopefully it will all work out.”
INJURY REPORT: Freshman Clinton Jorth is out for the season due to an elbow injury sustained at the SoCal Tournament. Doctors are discussing surgery as an option. Jorth has scored four goals this year for the Bruins.