This isn’t the same team.
They don’t want to carry the same expectations as last
year’s undefeated team. They want to move on. They want a
different identity.
The UCLA women’s water polo team fell to Stanford by two
goals in the semifinal game of the Gaucho Invitational but
rebounded to take third place against Hawai’i, winning 8-6 on
Sunday. Yet, when asked how the team felt after the tournament,
senior co-captain Thalia Munro had a different tone.
“It’s OK,” she said.
It’s OK? What happened to the swagger? The team that
didn’t even want to whisper about losing a game has now lost
two.
This No. 2 UCLA team (11-2, 4-0 MPSF) does not want to be
compared to last season’s national champions. In fact,
they’re tired of it.
“We had a lot of luck last year; rarely do teams go
33-0,” Munro said. “Third is fine, it’s not like
we’re in the NCAAs. It’s not the end of the year.
“What (Stanford) showed us is that we need to stay
grounded and modest and continue to work hard. That’s going
to give us a lot of fire in practice. It’s only going to make
us better.”
According to members of the team, nothing went right against the
team they beat last year in the NCAA championship game.
The Cardinal came out hard. The Bruins didn’t.
UCLA was hesitant shooting the ball. Stanford wasn’t.
The consensus was that there were a lot of mistakes in every
department.
Junior goalie Emily Feher did mention she noticed something
different about the Bruins.
“Today we were maybe missing a sense of urgency,”
she said. “We didn’t get any sparks.
“Hopefully this game will teach us we have to keep working
really hard.”
Though the Bruins were pegged to be the top team in the nation
this year, USC (12-0, 4-0) has emerged as the best team instead.
The Women of Troy, who defeated No. 3 Stanford (9-2, 4-0) in the
championship game of the 16-team round-robin tournament held at UC
Santa Barbara, are ranked No. 1.
They also won this season’s other tournament ““ the
Stanford Invitational ““ two weeks ago.
USC seems to be recapturing its national championship form from
2004 when it went undefeated. Asked if the Women of Troy have
pulled away from the rest of the competition, Feher was quick to
quell that perception and comment on her team’s
performance.
“Yes, they’ve won two tournaments, but they
haven’t separated themselves,” she said. “The
three top teams always are stuck together. It’ll be
competitive the rest of season.”
The month of April will be circled on UCLA’s calendar.
They’ll meet both Stanford and USC that month.