It’s over. Gone and stripped away from the Bruins is their
top-ranked status. Dashed are all thoughts of going undefeated this
season. Gone is the swagger that beamed from a team that appeared
invincible all of last season. A 40-game winning streak that
elapsed over three seasons, the longest in women’s water polo
history, came to an end Sunday at the Avery Aquatic Center in Palo
Alto, Calif. as UCLA fell to crosstown-rival USC in the
championship game of the Stanford Invitational, 10-8. Afterwards,
mixed emotions entered the Bruins’ mind. “Somber, I
think,” UCLA coach Adam Krikorian said. “Maybe a little
confusing. We haven’t had that feeling in a while. It’s
something new and sometimes you don’t know how to
react.” The loss especially hit the players returning from
last season. Senior co-captain Thalia Munro was terse with her
words after the defeat. “Pretty upset and disappointed.
Frustrated and disappointed,” Munro said. “I
don’t think we played to our capability and our potential,
that’s why it’s frustrating.” Top-ranked UCLA
(6-1) and No. 2 USC (6-0) have had their fair share of close games.
Over the last two seasons, the two teams split their meetings, 2-2,
in head-to-head matchups. For the past two seasons, the winner of
the Stanford tournament has gone on to capture the NCAA title; UCLA
in 2005 and USC in 2004. Both teams went undefeated en route to
their national titles. This past weekend’s Stanford
Invitational, in addition, was no runaway for the Trojans. In the
final period of play against the Bruins, both teams were locked at
8-8. It wasn’t until the final three minutes of play that USC
pulled away. Junior driver Patty Cardenas, who scored a game-high
four goals, connected on two goals in the fourth period propelling
the Trojans to a victory. Despite jumping out to a quick 2-0 in the
opening period, the Bruins trailed for the better part of the game.
Krikorian’s reasoning behind the Bruins’ loss was their
inability to convert on the 6-on-5 opportunities. UCLA went just
1-for-10 while USC converted 4-for-9. Many members of the team,
however, are taking the loss in with a positive spin.
“It’s the beginning of the season,” junior goalie
Emily Feher said. “We lose one. It’s not going to hurt
us. As long as we improve from our mistakes we’re going to be
fine.” Krikorian believes there’s such a thing as a
good loss and that there’s always something to learn. He
hopes this experience will be the case. “The good thing is
that it takes pressure off us,” said Krikorian about the
streak ending. “The bad thing is USC is 1-0 against us and
they have a bit of a mental advantage. “But, maybe (the loss)
will inspire us to improve and work a little harder in practice.
Only time will tell.”
EARLIER ROUNDS: Before Sunday’s game
against USC, the Bruins defeated No. 6 California, No. 4 Hawaii,
and No. 16 Arizona State to reach the finals. In the first round on
Saturday, the Bruins had a hard fought victory over the Bears 6-4
before easily defeating the Rainbow Warriors 10-3. On Sunday
morning, the Bruins swept by the Sun Devils 14-5 to reach the
finals against crosstown rival USC.
ROWE HURT: Sophomore center forward Brittany
Rowe will be questionable for practice this week after experiencing
back spasms this past week. Rowe, who is a huge piece on the
Bruins’ team, will have an MRI done on Monday. Rowe competed
in the first round of the Stanford Invitational, but was unable to
play the rest of the tournament.