Monday, December 2, 1996
WATER POLO:
Despite loss to Pacific Tigers, UCLA wins at-large bidBy Greg
Calvert
Daily Bruin Contributor
BERKELEY, Calif. — The sun was shining Friday on the Mountain
Pacific Sports Federation water polo tournament in Berkeley, but
that didn’t stop the UCLA Bruins from coming out cold as the
Pacific Tigers stunned the defending national champions 6-5 in the
opening round of the tournament.
However, within 48 hours of losing in the first round of a
tournament in what they thought may have been their last game of
the year, the Bruins were given new life. UCLA was awarded an
at-large bid to the NCAA Championships, which will be played this
weekend in San Diego.
The Bruins had approached the MPSF tournament as if it were
sudden death. The tournament champion would be guaranteed a berth
in the NCAAs, and then the MPSF would likely receive one at-large
bid.
When USC beat Stanford 12-5 in the finals of the MPSF tournament
on Sunday, that left UCLA and Stanford as leading candidates for
the at-large bid. The Cardinal had beaten the Bruins in their last
meeting, but the defending champion Bruins got the nod to move on
to San Diego.
Friday’s match between third-seeded UCLA and sixth-seeded
University of Pacific was the perfect setup for an upset. The
Bruins may have overlooked the Tigers, as UCLA fans and players
alike had every expectation to face off with USC in the second
round. Surprisingly, it was the players from Stockton that stepped
up to earn that privilege.
When the Tigers and Bruins last met in September for an MPSF
conference match, the Bruins handed the home team a narrow 8-7
defeat. The Tigers also lost to the Bruins in the first round of
last year’s MPSF tournament, and this year they were poised for an
upset.
"We did not play well today," head coach Guy Baker said.
That showed up in poor offensive production. The Bruins were
held scoreless in the second quarter, and their only two goals of
the second half were 4-meter penalty shots by Jim Toring.
The UCLA deckside section, thick with Hawaiian tea leaves for
luck, sat motionless as time expired. NCAA tournament hopes came to
a halt, and Bruin fans sulked in the realization that their season
had come to a close  or so they believed.
UCLA rebounded in the second round of the consolation side of
the tournament with a 9-8 victory over Pepperdine, but suffered
their second defeat of the tournament with a 7-4 loss to UC Irvine
on Sunday. The Bruins’ tough weekend earned them a sixth-place
finish in the tournament, but it was enough. UCLA will have a shot
to defend the title.
UCLA Sports Info
Guy Baker