By going undefeated at the Michigan Invitational for the second year in a row, the four-time defending national champion UCLA women’s water polo team showed their competition not to expect anything different from them this season.
The No. 3 Bruins overcame an early deficit to defeat No. 10 Michigan 10-4 in Ann Arbor, Mich., on Sunday after vanquishing Bucknell 17-0 and Indiana 10-3 on Saturday, opening their season on a strong note.
Against Michigan, who had upset No. 7 San Jose State earlier in the day, the Bruins found themselves down 0-2 after a pair of early Wolverine goals. However, the team then went on a tear, scoring six unanswered goals to make it 6-2 and put UCLA firmly in control.
“We needed to put away our goals,” senior attacker Katie Rulon said. “We started executing better and got multiple stops on defense.”
UCLA coach Adam Krikorian said he believed the team could learn from their comeback in future situations.
“We made some bad mistakes that led to a couple goals for them,” Krikorian said. “Michigan competed hard, but from that point (down 0-2) we did a very nice job. This is not going to be the only time we’re down early, so now we know how to keep our composure and know we’re capable of coming back.”
Senior goalkeeper Brittany Fullen had 12 saves in the match, including an assist to senior attacker Anne Belden for the Bruins’ third goal.
Over the course of the invitational, senior attacker Tanya Gandy led the Bruins in scoring, netting three goals in each of the three games. In addition, Rulon added six goals, while sophomore attacker Priscilla Orozco and freshman utility KK Clark each added four.
Along with the team’s veteran stars, a number of underclassmen ““ such as Orozco and Clark ““ received significant playing time in the invitational, giving them valuable experience and fulfilling one of Krikorian’s main objectives for the weekend.
“I think we got done what we set out to do,” Krikorian said. “We got some of our inexperienced players more time out there, and the team as a whole played well together. Some of (the freshmen) came out nervous, but that’s part of why we play in these tournaments.”
While Krikorian was complementary of sophomore defenders Kelly Easterday (2 goals over the weekend) and Megan Burmeister, as well as freshmen Hannah Sebenaler, Sarah Orozco and Randi Bresee (2 goals each), he said he is still raising the bar for his seniors.
“We are going to be expecting a lot more from them,” Krikorian said. “Right now they are just scratching the surface. We are not that close ““ we are still a long way from where we want to be in April.”
In the three games, UCLA outscored its opponents by an average of 10 goals per game, the same margin it defeated its opponents by in last year’s tournament. However, Krikorian remained cautious at being content with the team’s level of play and guarded against any comparisons to last year’s team.
“Some of the scores weren’t indicative of how close the games were,” Krikorian said. “This season, no game for us is a game we can look past.”
The Bruins’ experienced players know how important these first games can be, as they are crucial preparation for the myriad of highly-ranked teams the Bruins will have to face when Mountain Pacific Sports Federation play begins.
“These were good practice games,” Rulon said. “We have a lot to work on, and we need to get in better game shape. But this was a good learning experience for us. Everybody gave us a good run for our money.”