The stands in Spieker Aquatics Center were full for the first time this season.
The sea of blue clashed with the red ASU Sun Devil T-shirts filling the stands. Players from the U.S. Women’s National water polo team sat front row and the UCLA Alumni Band played the summer time classic “Sweet Caroline.”
“That atmosphere and having all those fans is really nice,” said redshirt junior Alexa Tielmann. “It makes the atmosphere that much better and makes everyone that much more pumped.”
The energy that pulsed through the crowd translated into the game as senior center India Forster sent the perfect shot past ASU goalkeeper Mia Rycraw on the first possession 30 seconds in.
“We got a goal just about every time that we needed it,” said coach Brandon Brooks. “To be able to execute is a very nice thing, and to get a goal when you have the opportunity is big.”
With the momentous crowd cheering on the home team, No. 2 UCLA (20-3, 4-1 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) was able to capitalize and defeat No. 4 Arizona (17-5, 3-2) 16-6.
“I’m impressed on how we did offensively. To put up 16 goals on a good team, it’s hard to quantify, but we definitely showed improvement from last week when we didn’t execute,” Brooks said. “We had a lot contributions from a lot of people and I am very happy with the win against a good Arizona team.”
The Bruins maintained their offensive momentum throughout the first half of the game, but not without the Sun Devils firing right back at them.
The teeter-tottering effect made both the first and second quarters a highly contested matchup; however, the quick turn around on the defensive end for UCLA pushed through Arizona’s firing offense.
“Against Arizona, you don’t want to get kicked out too much,” Brooks said. “We started to play a little bit better defense and we did step up and get some big field blocks when we needed them. Then we were not only able to counter attack off those stops but execute the counterattack.”
A pair of field blocks from junior center Elissia Schilling sent the Bruins on an offensive run in the third quarter. The crucial turnovers on ASU’s end that stemmed from UCLA’s pressure defense triggered a deficit that it was unable to overcome.
“Defense is always our number-one goal. Our transition comes from our defense. Our offense is our defense,” Schilling said. “Getting those stops really fires everyone up and it leads to the counterattack and quick six-on-fives.”
From the second half on, UCLA was unstoppable.
Along with a shot clock expiration violation and multiple shot blocks from senior goalkeeper Alex Musselman, the Bruins defensively shut down the Sun Devils and offensively capitalized on their diminishing tempo.
“She’s been playing amazing this year and that gives us a lot of confidence,” Tielmann said. “When you know that your goalie can make the big saves when she needs to, that helps so much.”
Throughout the entirety of the game, UCLA maintained its poise and composure, assisting one another and converting the big six-on-five plays when it needed to.
The depth of communication was never lacking as Brooks continually shouted across the pool, “Balance and patience,” reaffirming the goal of having a calm and collected nature.
“It definitely is reassuring to look up and hear what offense we are going to run and what defense we are going to run,” Schilling said. “An important aspect that we focus on is communication, so when one person hears it, we communicate what offense or defense we are in. Usually when that happens we generate stops. It’s definitely reassuring to have the big man up there.”
The last goal that Arizona scored was in the third quarter with a little over six minutes left to play. Any last attempt to get one past the Bruins was ill-fated.
“We know what we needed to do,” Tielmann said. “We focused on it all week. Overall, we knew what they were running and knew how to deal with it and I think we focused on it pretty well and it just worked for us.”