The temperature in Los Angeles has plummeted into the low 60s during the evenings and, consequently, a chill has settled over Spieker Aquatics Center.
Fog clouds the lights towering above the deck, and the blue and gold beanies have emerged from storage. The only source of warmth is Dirks Pool, where the kinks and mistakes of past games are being ironed out.
’Tis the season for a rivalry showdown.
When No. 1 UCLA (24-0, 8-0 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) hosts No. 4 USC (18-4, 6-2) on Sunday, the once-frigid environment will thaw as hundreds of fans overflow Spieker’s capacity, and the competitive friction between the two Southern California dynasties may bring the waters to a boil well before the opening sprint.
“It’s a ton of energy, because it’s two great programs, two historic programs,” said senior utility Danny McClintick. “But at the end of the day, it’s another conference game … it’s not about rankings or placing – every conference game is do or die for every team … it’s going to be a dogfight out there.”
Water polo games aren’t typically as popular as basketball or football games in the United States. However, due to the nature of the rivalry, UCLA versus USC water polo matches have historically magnetized crowds.
Sunday’s rivalry game, the only one that requires UCLA students to pay, was sold out days in advance – the same happened in 2013.
“Both teams work really hard throughout the year and when you have a full house or a packed crowd, it’s great for these guys – it’s not always like that,” said coach Adam Wright.
Despite the likely crowds that will be sitting within earshot from the pool, the Bruins said they won’t be focused on the heated mixture of remarks coming from the stands.
“We are focused on what’s going on in the water with the guys that are playing,” McClintick said. “It is hard – they’re yelling, they’re right on the deck, especially here where there’s not only upper seating, but there’s lower seating too. It gets loud … our fans are yelling, their fans are yelling. That’s part of what makes this rivalry, in my opinion, the greatest rivalry in college sports.”
The Trojans have been handed losses in the past four meetings with the Bruins. In their last two matchups, the 2014 NCAA title match and last month’s Kap7 SoCal Invitational game, the outcomes were decided by a goal in the final seconds of the fourth period.
Despite an early 3-0 USC lead, the Bruins outscored the Trojans 6-2 in the second and third periods of the SoCal championship match. But as rivalry games go, USC staged a fourth-quarter comeback to tie the game at 9-9. Junior attacker Jack Fellner eventually scored the game-winner with 15 seconds left in the game.
Similarly, in last year’s NCAA title game, then-sophomore center Gordon Marshall’s winning goal came with only 34 seconds on the clock.
Wright expects another nail-biter Sunday, especially after a month of fine-tuning within both programs and increased levels of experience from newcomers on both rosters.
“(The Trojans) have more experience now … they had a bunch of young guys playing last season and made it all the way to the NCAA final,” Wright said. “We had some young guys who got some experience last year, (so) we’re both kind of in the same boat. We lost a bigger senior class, but at the end of the day it’s always going to be a tight game no matter who’s playing … It’s just the nature of the rivalry.”
To remedy their early lack of offense against the Trojans, the Bruins haven’t let their past four opponents sneak to early first-period leads. UCLA has outscored league foes 31-10 in the first half of games since Oct. 25.
The fourth period has been a different story, as the Bruins have only outscored the same opponents 9-8. To stop the Trojans from once again staging a last-second comeback, the Bruins are aware that tenacious consistency in both offensive structure and defensive pressure will be vital.
Though they’ve been in a few tense situations, UCLA’s ability to adapt has clearly worked – a 24-0 record serves as a testament.
“(We need to) just continue to play the way we’ve been playing throughout all of our MPSF games,” said sophomore attacker Max Irving. “Sharpening up 6-on-5, coming out ready against their press and just sticking to what has been helping us play well so far.”
Taking down the Trojans for the fifth time in a row won’t require rewriting all the Xs and Os. For McClintick, a victory happens if the Bruins meticulously execute the fine print in the game book.
“We need to focus on the little things,” he said. “Everyone wants a huge game plan, this and that, but I can guarantee that they are over in (South) L.A. saying the exact same thing – we need to focus on the little things … It’s not some big huge tactical change, its going to be the tiny, tiny details … Whoever sticks to those is going to come out on top on Sunday.”