The No. 5 UCLA men’s water polo team (21-8) wrapped up a
hard-fought season with a disappointing fifth-place finish at the
MPSF conference tournament at USC’s McDonald’s Swim
Stadium this weekend.
Going from last year’s national champions to fifth in the
MPSF conference was a tough fall for the Bruins to take, as they
will not make a consecutive appearance in the NCAA Tournament.
The decisive ending to the 2005 season came Friday morning with
a 12-13 overtime loss to No. 3 Cal in which the Bruins fought to
the bitter end.
“I cried. It sucked to lose like that,” redshirt
senior captain David Pietsch said. “It’s miserable to
see the season go down like that.”
In the game, the Bruins came back in the fourth quarter from a
two-goal deficit, with redshirt junior Logan Powell scoring the
tying goal with 16 seconds left in the game. But in the second
round of overtime play, the Bears outscored the Bruins by one.
“The final goal was a good feeling, but I was really just
concentrating on the game, hoping to get into overtime and beat
Cal,” Powell said. “The loss was a bummer for
everyone.”
After the loss Friday, instead of contending for the conference
title and the automatic NCAA Tournament bid, the Bruins spent
Saturday and Sunday competing for fifth place. Saturday, UCLA
defeated No. 9 Long Beach State 10-6 and on Sunday, the Bruins
outlasted No. 7 Pacific 9-5.
“They are tough games to play in where we are largely
playing for pride,” UCLA coach Adam Krikorian said.
“These guys played their butts off and I am pleased with our
play.”
However, more than anything, the performance of this
year’s team at the tournament illustrates how much potential
the returning players have for the 2006 season.
Losing essentially eight of the top players on their roster, two
to injury and six to graduation, the Bruins started play late in
the summer in a position drastically different from the national
championship team of last year and quite unlike the other
top-contending teams in the nation.
“This is something you cannot say during the season, but
with the loss of eight key players, most teams could and would
never be able do what we did this season,” Krikorian
said.
“It is an incredible accomplishment for this team. At the
same time, it was one of the roughest seasons I’ve had, where
all eight of our losses were the toughest losses of my career. It
may be someone above telling me to stay grounded.”
The fact that UCLA fought right alongside the best, losing all
eight of its matches by only one goal apiece, illustrates the young
nature of this year’s Bruin team.
With five freshmen and sophomores starting in the overtime
period against Cal, the younger, less experienced Bruins were able
to step up and contribute while gaining invaluable experience to
help lead the team in the years to come.
“Our freshman class is awesome and the young guys stepped
up huge this year,” Pietsch said. “Next year, they will
be incredible.”
Sunday’s win against Pacific not only marked the end of
the 2005 water polo season, but also the end of a UCLA career for
Pietsch and John Blanchette, the team’s two seniors and
captains.
“I had a great time,” Pietsch said. “I
couldn’t ask for anything more; everything about UCLA is
awesome.”
Fortunately for the Bruins, those are the only two members of
the team who will graduate this year, which sets the Bruins up for
a much more mature and experienced squad to vie for next
year’s title.
“I am sad to see our seniors leave,” Krikorian said.
“They were huge assets to the team, but this team has a lot
of potential.”