The season finale of UCLA men’s water polo’s regular season on Saturday night against Long Beach State might have been the program’s Senior Night, but the Bruins were more focused on preparing for their upcoming postseason opportunities.
UCLA led from the first minute to the last, but the game felt close from the opening possession, despite the 16-8 final score. The Bruins’ unrelenting intensity led to them winning not only the match, but also the “energy battle,” according to coach Adam Wright.
“Though we talked about Senior Night, we didn’t want that emotion to get in the way of what we were doing in the pool,” Wright said. “As for the energy battle – we did a great job in the first quarter and got it back in the fourth.”
The Bruins opened the first half with a deluge of scoring, powered by senior attacker Paul Reynolds and senior utility Cristiano Mirarchi as well as sophomore center Gordon Marshall. In what could be his last game in Spieker Aquatics Center, Mirarchi earned a hat trick and anchored UCLA’s offense.
“I love Spieker – it’s the place I’ve been working for the past five years,” Mirarchi said. “It’s a little bit exciting. It’s also really sad to be done here, but now we’re focusing on the rest of the season.”
On a night that was focused on seniors, Marshall ensured his name would make postgame mentions, with four goals in three quarters of play. In a game the sophomore center referred to as “one to remember,” Marshall proved that his dominant offensive play, which emerged in the latter half of the regular season, is ready for the postseason.
In addition to their promising offensive performance, the Bruins showed consistency on both sides of the pool with their defensive diligence. After each Long Beach State score, Mirarchi would gather his teammates and encourage them to get the next stop, despite the Bruins’ ever-widening lead.
“We didn’t want them to score – we wanted to push ourselves even further,” Marshall said. “The idea of today was to finish the regular season the same as always, and that’s what we did.”