New season, continued dominance was the mantra of this weekend’s Triton and UCLA Invitationals for the No. 1 men’s water polo team.
The two-time reigning NCAA champions officially kicked off the year over the weekend. Coach Adam Wright’s team showed few signs of rust after the offseason, turning in an undefeated performance.
“Having a lot of guys (return) helps,” Wright said. “They all have a pretty good understanding of how we play.”
The Bruins return a veteran squad this season, losing only four players from last year’s championship run. Alongside experienced veterans, several talented true freshmen made their collegiate debuts in a 13-6 victory over No. 9 UC San Diego.
Among those who shone were true freshmen attacker and utility player James Vlachonassios and attacker Jake Simpson. Vlachonassios scored his first collegiate goal in a 14-4 victory over No. 17 Cal Baptist on Saturday afternoon and Simpson did the same earlier in the day against UC San Diego.
“They’ve done a great job so far and if they keep coming along they both could absolutely be critical pieces for us,” Wright said.
Simpson finished with seven goals for the weekend, while Vlachonassios tallied five, including a hat trick against the University of Redlands.
Junior attacker Max Irving, who finished with a hat trick against the Tritons on Saturday morning, maintained that were a few minor issues that the team planned to address later on in the week during practice.
“We have to get better on defense.” Irving said. “If we’re locked in defensively, our offensive production will come.”
Defensive performance dipped a little in the second half of this weekend’s matches, as the Bruins allowed 13 goals in the second compared to nine in the first.
Nonetheless, the romp continued with a 14-4 victory over the University of Redlands on Sunday morning. The Bruins’ firepower was on display in the second half as the team scored nine goals in rapid succession.
In the game and over the two days in San Diego, senior goalie Garrett Danner split time with junior Aleksandar Ruzic in the cage. Wright explained that it is good to get many players into the pool as a way to ensure that they are prepared if their time comes later in the season.
UCLA then scored a 15-6 victory over Loyola Marymount on Sunday, powered by senior attacker Ryder Roberts’ two goals. All together he put eight in the back of the net over the five official games.
Losing their fourth, fifth and sixth leading scorers from last year leaves the Bruins with a void to be filled, but Roberts believes the squad will depend on a more balanced attack rather than rely upon any one person.
“It doesn’t matter who scores the goals on the team as long as we’re getting victories,” Roberts said.
The team’s play matched their selfless words. Over the weekend’s five victories, the least number of scorers the squad had was eight.
UCLA finished up its lengthy weekend with a scrimmage against No. 5 Stanford and a 20-2 thumping of Chapman University. The offense shined as three players scored hat tricks against the Panthers. The victory extended the Bruins’ winning streak to 38 in a row.
The team will next take to the pool in a series of exhibitions against No. 3 Cal and No. 15 Air Force on Friday morning at the Princeton Invitational.