Under the lights of Spieker Aquatics Center, UCLA battled to gain the upper hand over league foe UC Santa Barbara in the opening eight minutes of Friday’s matchup.
The early back-and-forth duel turned into a second period Bruin tempest as the temperature dropped and UCLA’s 2-1 lead quickly skyrocketed.
A steal from sophomore utility Alex Roelse near half-tank quickly turned into a breakaway, one-on-nobody opportunity against Gaucho goalie Chris Whitelegge. His skip-shot snuck under Whitelegge’s arm with 6:28 remaining in the second period.
Less than three minutes later, junior attacker Jack Fellner tallied a quick power play goal without a shot clock reset, and in a matter of 34 seconds, sophomore attacker Max Irving helped build a 6-1 lead after a shot from the perimeter.
In just over three minutes, the Bruins had pushed the game out of reach.
Momentum never swayed back in Santa Barbara’s favor and a rigid Bruin defense helped seal the 9-4 victory over the No. 6 Gauchos (15-9, 4-5 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation). UCLA’s record remains unstained after commanding victories over both Santa Barbara and No. 8 Long Beach State through the weekend.
Despite the score, coach Adam Wright wasn’t satisfied with the Bruins’ offense in the second half.
“They were playing a good zone, but also we weren’t approaching the goal the right way – stepping into the free water and really being ready to shoot the ball,” Wright said. “We did get some balls to our center, but we’ve got to do a better job of staying up in there.”
After a rapid-fire second period where five different Bruins scored five unanswered goals, UCLA entered into a 13-minute scoring drought.
“We can’t let (that) happen,” Roelse said. “We’ve got to stay consistent through the whole game because that is really what we focus on doing – being able to play in any moment, any time, any conditions the same kind of water polo.”
Two-meter violations also caused trouble for the Bruins, reversing what could have been two power-play goals to boost UCLA’s lead.
“We have to be able to adjust to any style of reffing,” Roelse said. “We just have to keep doing what we do and eventually it will show in the score that we can win no matter what happens.”
The Bruins’ top-ranked defense picked up the pieces, holding the Gauchos to only three power-play conversions and forcing the visitors to dump the ball on multiple possessions. Santa Barbara’s only goal in the fourth period came off a 6-on-4 opportunity.
“The way the ball was moving in our attack just seemed a second behind, but again we put ourselves in a position to be successful because of defense,” Wright said.
While offensive decision-making lagged on some possessions, on others the Bruins were too quick in their attack – steals, contra fouls and quick shots caused the team to rush shots instead of finding an extra pass or an open player. Ultimately, that worked to Santa Barbara’s advantage, Roelse said.
“Sometimes we started speeding things up and that takes us out of our game and plays into their hands,” Fellner said. “When the pace of the game gets going super fast, we just have to slow down, take a deep breath, and play our system.”
On Sunday, UCLA solidly defeated Long Beach State 11-4, again pulling away in the second period. The Bruins remain undefeated in conference play with a winning streak of 24-0. UCLA has beaten both Long Beach State and Santa Barbara over 90 times in program history.
Roster depth was on full display on Friday and Sunday, with 10 players contributing points. Senior utility Daniel McClintick scored the weekend’s only hat-trick against the Beach, and junior goalie Garrett Danner tallied a combined 29 saves over the course of both games.