With just three seconds left in the fourth period of UCLA men’s water polo’s game against Princeton, redshirt freshman center Patrick Woepse scored the last goal to win the game at the Spieker Aquatics Center, and the crowd jumped on its feet, cheering and yelling.
In its first weekend of MPSF play, the No. 1 UCLA men’s water polo team competed against No. 9 Pepperdine, No. 8 Loyola Marymount, and No. 11 Princeton, picking up three wins, and dominating two of the games.
The weekend started off slow at home on Friday as the team took a 4-0 lead against Pepperdine after a scoreless first period on the Waves’ side. The Bruins kept the lead throughout the game, ending with an 8-7 win.
However, coach Adam Wright saw much room for improvement in this narrow win.
“We got off to a good start but we kind of let things get away from us,” Wright said. “We went up 4-0 and had some excellent opportunities to put ourselves in a good position and we didn’t take advantage of it.”
The next day, the Bruins traveled south to compete against No. 8 Loyola Marymount, winning 17-4.
Freshman attacker Lovre Milos had a big weekend, producing hat tricks in both games on Saturday.
UCLA’s evening game against Princeton marked the first time this year that the team played at Spieker Aquatics Center at night.
“This night game was great,” said senior defender Chris Wendt. “It was the first night game under the lights and we really played a lot better.”
The Bruins never allowed more than one goal period against Princeton that evening, holding the Tigers in the fourth period as UCLA won 15-3.
On Sept. 24, redshirt freshman goalkeeper Garrett Danner was named the UCLA/Muscle Milk student-athlete of the week, as well as being named MPSF player of the week the day before.
This weekend, Danner did not disappoint, as he registered a total of 33 saves – 11 against Pepperdine on Friday, nine against Loyola Marymount on Saturday afternoon and 13 on Saturday evening against Princeton. However, Danner attributed most of his success to his team’s impressive defensive play. “My team played great defense and allowed a low percent of the shots, which makes it a lot easier on me,” he said.
According to Wright, UCLA is on its way to success, but has a long road ahead as the team adjusts to all the new pieces of the game, including the players’ new roles in the team as well as the new players on the team.
“We understand that it’s only going to get tougher and tougher from here on out, but we’re looking forward to the challenge,” Wright said.