The Bruins didn’t even let it get close.
No. 2 UCLA men’s water polo (13-0) defeated No.12 UC Irvine (5-5) 14-7 in front of a packed crowd at Spieker Aquatics Center, remembering the one-goal loss from last season – which snapped the Bruins’ 12-game winning streak.
“You have to come into every game the same way and we definitely didn’t do that last year,” said senior attacker Austin Rone. “We knew that we had to come out with energy and be ready to bring it.”
UCLA jumped out to a 9-2 halftime lead, with Rone leading the way. The senior lefty tallied a hat trick by halftime with three outside shots from the weak side, outscoring all of UC Irvine.
“Today I just happened to be the guy that was open,” Rone said. “I had a lot of players setting me up (and sophomore attacker Chasen Travisano) set me up a couple times. (Defenders) would drop back (on me) in the zone and I took advantage of that today.”
Although Travisano did not score in the contest, he registered three assists – dishing out two of them to Rone.
“We come together,” Travisano said. “If you do everything together, people are going to get their goals and people are going to get their assists. … But I thought we came together well and had a good game.”
The Bruins held the Anteaters to a season-tying low of just two goals at halftime.
Coach Adam Wright said the execution of offense in the front court was fueled by UCLA’s defensive efforts, which were led by redshirt junior goalkeeper Alex Wolf.
“We’re missing some of our shot blocks still,” Wright said. “But it’s nice to have (Wolf) back there who can block the ball and take other people’s responsibilities.”
Wolf logged seven saves in the first two quarters after registering just five in the entire game against No. 6 Long Beach State the day before. Wolf was replaced by freshman goalkeeper Danny Roland in the second half.
The Bruins, however, gave up more than double the goals allowed in the first half, by the third quarter, despite sophomore attacker Nicolas Saveljic’s hat trick . Wright said the defensive intensity is something that needs to be maintained from start to finish.
“What I didn’t like was that second half (because) we go ahead and give them five more goals,” Wright said. “That’s something we can’t let happen no matter who’s going in the water or what the score is.”
Sophomore center Quinten Osborne found the back of the net from 2 meters in the fourth period. Osborne is the only Bruin to score in all 13 games this season and leads the pack with 27 goals on the year.
UCLA will travel to No. 5 Pacific and No. 8 UC Davis next weekend with the opportunity to continue its 13-game win streak.