With an expected crowd of more than 2,000 trickling into the Avery Aquatic Center before the Stanford vs. UCLA football game, the stakes will be higher than normal and the game more intense for UCLA men’s water polo.
“We know it’s going to be a big crowd,” said redshirt junior goalkeeper James Hartshorne. “We’re expecting the atmosphere to be pretty rowdy and for them to be pumped up.”
This Saturday, the No. 2 Bruins will go up to Northern California to compete against the fourth-ranked Stanford Cardinal in a crucial conference match, followed by a game against Santa Clara on Sunday.
Stanford (10-4) has only lost to USC, UCLA and twice to Pacific. Just last week, UCLA beat Stanford 10-5, holding the team to one goal heading into the fourth quarter.
However, the Bruins are not resting on their laurels, as they know the Cardinal will give it everything they have, with the added benefit of home-court advantage.
“By no means are we taking that with us,” said coach Adam Wright. “We’re going to learn from what we were able to get out of that game and what we saw them doing, but at the same time, we fully expect that it will be a different game.”
Because they are playing a single game on Saturday, as opposed to a four-game tournament, both teams will be playing at their best.
“You want more hours to prep for a team like Stanford,” Hartshorne said. “But it is also good that we will be well rested for the game.”
The Bruins feel they have improved a lot in their communication, coming off of last week’s tournament, which Wright thinks is crucial, especially in this game.
“The level of communication is at a much better place now than it was at the beginning of the season, which is critical because this weekend they won’t be able to hear me, so it will be only them out there in the water,” Wright said.
The team’s five-man defense has also seen a lot of improvement over the past few weeks.
“Just looking at last weekend, our five-man defense was awesome,” Hartshorne said.
And the players are expecting to come back with the same kind of force against Stanford again.
However, their transition game is one that still poses a challenge for the team, but with about a month left of play, there is room for improvement.
“It’s going to be a big game,” said freshman center Gordon Marshall. “It’s a definite must-win for us and we’re going to come out fighting hard after last weekend.”