UCLA men’s water polo takes to the road again this weekend, facing a team similar stylistically to USC in a similarly unfamiliar environment when it takes on Pacific in Stockton, Calif.
If revenge was on the team’s mind last week against USC when they sought to avenge only their second loss of the season, the theme of redemption will be heightened this Saturday.
Pacific was the team to dash UCLA’s NCAA title hopes last season when it beat the Bruins 10-9 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation tournament third-place game. The defeat caused UCLA to lose out on a bid to the NCAA tournament.
Despite sending a strong message last Sunday by handing the Trojans a close 10-8 defeat, the Bruins continue to focus on perfecting their game plan before the beginning of the MPSF postseason.
“There’s been an emphasis on focusing on what we’re supposed to do and not really worrying about the opponents so much, so that’s the biggest thing,” said senior attacker Chris Fahlsing.
With only three games left in the regular season, UCLA is looking to sharpen its offensive attack before the quarterfinals. In a game that turned into a shoot-out, the Bruins struggled to match the Trojans when it came to their power play.
“We have a lot of parts of our game that we can sharpen up,” said senior goalie Stephen White. “We’ll definitely be doing a lot of work on our 6-on-5 because we didn’t really make much of an impact in that area of the game (against USC).”
At this point last season, UCLA was similarly poised to advance far into the NCAA tournament, before falling to Pacific. In an effort to prevent history from repeating itself, the Bruins are turning their focus inward and away from their opponents.
For the No. 1 team in the nation, that means never settling and continuing to critique its performance, according to coach Adam Wright. Despite their undefeated conference record, the Bruins are still continuing to improve on both sides of the pool.
“Just like any other week, we also have to focus on ourselves. There are a lot of things to get better from (the) USC (game),” said Wright. “I thought our front-court offense was definitely better (against USC), but also we got caught sometimes defensively – stuck in between where we weren’t pressing and not all the way back.”
Only two weeks of conference play remain, and UCLA intends to make the most of its time as it prepares for the postseason.