Strange things tend to happen when Bruins and Trojans butt heads, and it was no different when UCLA and USC matched up Sunday in women’s water polo in the semifinals of the UC Irvine Invitational.
The No. 1 Trojans entered the game with a 9-0 record, while the No. 4 Bruins came in with a mark of 10-2, having won five in a row. Despite their opponents’ lofty ranking and unblemished mark, the Bruins stayed even with the Trojans the whole way, but eventually fell 8-7.
“We were really pleased with how we played all weekend, especially against USC,” senior attacker Anne Belden said. “It was our first chance to play the top team in the country, and we played them even the entire way.”
Controversy arose in the game’s concluding moments, as the Bruins closed the match with a 6-on-5 advantage but were unable to net the equalizer. However, while the teams warmed down, it was determined that the clock had started too early in the concluding moments and the end of the game was replayed. In the second chance, a last-second goal by UCLA sophomore defender Kelly Easterday was determined an illegal two-handed push, and the final score stood.
“I’ve definitely never been involved in a finish like that,” Belden said. “It was a little strange having to go out there and do things all over again, but we just had to go out and execute and we almost came out with one.”
UCLA coach Adam Krikorian said that while he had seen instances of the sort occur in the past, he had never been involved in one himself. Despite the frustrating finish, Krikorian was more than pleased with his team’s efforts.
“I thought we did extremely well,” he said. “We really made it tough for them out there, and we got contributions from everyone. It was many of our substitutes that helped us make a run at the end.”
Following the dramatic finish against their archrivals, the Bruins had to face No. 3 Hawai’i in the consolation game, marking the third time this season that the two teams have matched up, and the second in just four days. UCLA defeated Hawai’i 11-8 in Westwood on Thursday, and on Sunday they won again 12-7.
“We’re really becoming familiar with Hawai’i in terms of their personnel and how they like to play,” Belden said. “It helped a lot going into the last game, because we had a pretty good idea of what they were going to throw at us.”
Senior attackers Tanya Gandy, Katie Rulon, and Belden, who led the Bruins with a pair of goals against USC, would each tally three against Hawaii.
The Bruins began the weekend Saturday with a pair of convincing victories over No. 13 Long Beach State and No. 5 California. UCLA received a pair of goals from eight different players, and jumped out to an 11-1 halftime lead en route to an 18-2 rout of the 49ers. Against California, the Bruins again got off to a fast start, scoring the first five goals in cruising to a 9-4 victory behind four goals from Gandy.
In giving up just 20 total goals in 4 games, UCLA showed how much they’ve improved on defense, something that Krikorian has preached consistently.
“It was very obvious to me this weekend how far these players have improved in just the last couple weeks,” he said. “Defense was the big key for us, but really we played really well in all aspects of the game.”
Their success in Irvine has the Bruins feeling confident that they can play the nation’s best, and Krikorian agrees that the Bruins can be dangerous.
“If we can continue to play at this level,” he said. “We’ll be a team to be reckoned with at the end.”