Less than a week after the UCLA men’s water polo team’s best start in 16 seasons was spoiled by none other than rival USC, the Bruins went to work on a new winning streak.
Following an early afternoon exhibition against Golden West Junior College, No. 2 UCLA (12-1) jumped out to an early lead and never faltered, cruising to a 16-8 victory over No. 10 Loyola Marymount (3-4) on Friday night.
The Bruins’ scoring effort was led by sophomore attacker Paul Reynolds, who had six goals on the evening, doubling his previous season-best of three goals against No. 18 Cal Baptist earlier this month.
“My teammates set me up and thank God I put them in,” Reynolds said. “I would’ve looked like a fool if I missed the shots “¦ they were pretty open.”
Reynolds was the clear offensive star of the game, but the Bruins showed versatility, with eight different players scoring at least one goal.
“(Reynolds) obviously shot the ball well tonight, but I expect those things from certain guys on our team,” coach Adam Wright said. “Each game, everybody’s not going to have their best game, but we need players stepping up consistently each game and tonight was Paul’s night to do that.”
UCLA was also able to capitalize off of a number of LMU fouls, proving effective in six-on-five situations.
The team was not as pleased with its defensive performance, however, allowing its second highest total of goals on the season, with eight.
“Eight goals is too many,” senior goalkeeper Matt Rapacz said. “As a team, we were a little upset about how many goals we gave up, but defensively it’s a start.”
Still, the Bruins made defensive stops when it counted in man-down schemes, including a big save by Rapacz at the end of the first quarter that was followed by a 6-1 UCLA run over the next nine minutes of play.
“We work on our five-man every single day,” Rapacz said. “It’s a huge part of the game. If you can get a big stop in the five-man, it can turn the whole game around.”
Throughout the past week of practice, the Bruins focused on a transition defense that proved much more effective on Friday than in last Sunday’s NorCal tournament final against USC.
“We put a lot of physical work in this week, also analyzing the video, but I challenged these guys today to get better in the transition game, which we were,” Wright said.
UCLA looks to build on this win as it travels to Santa Barbara next weekend to play in the SoCal tournament, which could provide the Bruins with an opportunity for redemption against USC before regular league play begins.
“It’s the details,” Reynolds said. “We know we have a good team and can run a good defense, but we just have to be able to come into a game, start out strong and focus.”