They knew that the hurdle was a big one. In the end, it proved to be insurmountable.
The UCLA men’s water polo team couldn’t come away from Palo Alto this weekend with the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Tournament crown and the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Instead, its season ended with a fourth-place finish, surprisingly low for a team that seemingly entered the year on the cusp of a national championship.
The crushing blow came in a 10-5 loss to USC in the semifinals Saturday, while the knockout punch was a 10-9 loss to California in the third-place match one day later.
Three times this season UCLA and USC matched up, and three times UCLA came up short.
Saturday was no different for the No. 3-seeded Bruins (19-6), as the No. 2-seed Trojans (26-2) defeated them for the fourth time this year.
“We weren’t ready to play from the get-go,” redshirt senior center Jacob Murphy said.
Once again, a slow start doomed UCLA. USC pitched a second-quarter shutout and used five unanswered goals to go into the half up 7-1.
“Old thoughts came into our heads,” coach Adam Wright said. “More than anything with (USC), it’s more psychological than physical.”
The Bruins had the opportunities, but shots would not go into the back of the net.
“It seemed to be the theme this year against ‘SC; we didn’t shoot the ball,” Murphy said. “We’re not shooting to score, we’re just shooting to shoot, without any confidence.”
Holding USC to zero goals in the third quarter helped, but UCLA couldn’t do much on the offensive end, where star Trojan goalkeeper Joel Dennerley once again stonewalled the Bruins with 10 saves.
“It wasn’t a lack of preparation, it was a lack of execution,” redshirt junior attacker Cullen Hennessy said.
Hopes of the one at-large bid to NCAA’s weren’t lost until Sunday. A win over Cal in the third-place game, coupled with a USC win in the final, would have given UCLA a legitimate claim for the at-large berth.
But that wasn’t to be. No. 1-seed Cal (24-4) bested UCLA by one goal in the fourth quarter to win 10-9 and seal up third place.
USC came away as conference champions after defeating No. 4-seed Stanford, 8-7, in three overtimes. Cal will likely receive the one at-large bid to the four-team NCAA Tournament, which will be held in Berkeley next weekend.
Murphy, the team captain, had two goals against the Trojans as he desperately tried to keep his team alive. In the end the Bruins fell short, but Murphy still reflected fondly on five years of UCLA water polo.
“My teammates are like my brothers,” Murphy said. “I would have loved to share a national championship with each and every one of these guys, but it wasn’t in the cards.”