For the men’s water polo team, this weekend’s 11-4 victory over No. 7 Santa Barbara was a return to form.
The Gauchos (15-9, 4-3 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) proved to be less of a challenge than the No. 2 Bruins (15-5, 5-2) originally anticipated because of UCLA’s superior defense.
“We worked on our defense all week in practice,” sophomore Ben Hohl said. “We were really focusing on communication and talking to people; we were really able to do that, and it showed with them only scoring two goals in the first three quarters.”
With the Gauchos boasting the leading scorer in the conference, Milos Golic, and coming off a weekend where they upset formerly No. 2 Stanford, UCLA was projecting a very tough game.
In the first quarter the Bruins quickly found themselves down two goals. But the Bruins did not let the deficit phase them, stopping any other Gaucho goals for the remainder of the half.
“I was really happy with how we rebounded and responded to that early deficit,” coach Adam Krikorian said. “After that we were really sharp defensively, working really well together.”
The Bruins were able to cut the 2-0 lead in half during the first quarter off a goal by redshirt senior Chris Allen. Redshirt sophomore Jacob Murphy, redshirt senior Krsto Sbutega and Hohl would all add goals for UCLA in the second quarter to lead 4-2 heading into halftime.
After halftime the Bruins pulled away to take control of the game. The Bruin lead would be extended to 8-2 with a 4-0 run in the third quarter. Three of the goals came from Hohl, who lead the team with four during the contest.
Entering the fourth quarter leading 8-2, the Bruins would solidify their advantage with three more goals, two of which came from redshirt junior Scott Davidson.
UCLA successfully held UCSB scoreless for over 21 minutes ““ more than half the game. UCSB would go on to add two more goals before the end of the game but were unable to climb back from UCLA’s 11-0 run.
“I thought we did a great job,” Krikorian said. “We played a complete game. We played well for four quarters, and I was really pleased with them in every facet.”
UCLA also held them scoreless in 6-on-5 advantages, something the team had worked heavily on in practice. The Bruins went three for six on their man-up advantages while putting down any Gaucho advantage and forcing them to go 0 for 5.
Entering the game, UCSB was undefeated for the season at home. With a hostile pool and rowdy crowds, it is a tough pool to play at and one that is not friendly to visiting teams.
“In terms of the crowd I think it helps that we went on a pretty incredible run and silenced them a bit,” Krikorian said. “It took away their excitement and made it a little easier for us to play.”
With only one game left in the regular season, this win will help UCLA in conference standings, which will be important for seeding in the MPSF tournament.
“This game was definitely a huge momentum booster,” Hohl said. “We played really well as a team. Pepperdine is going to be a tough game next week, but we are all feeling really confident after this win against Santa Barbara.”
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