Number one of the win streak started with a 10-5 win over crosstown rival USC back in November 2014. A much different number one came today, at the hands of the same program.
No. 1 UCLA men’s water polo (24-1, 2-1 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) saw its 57-game win streak come to a halt as it lost its first game of the season in a thrilling 8-7 loss to No. 2 USC (20-1, 3-0 MPSF).
“You have to give them a lot of credit. They came out with intensity,” said coach Adam Wright. “They came out and were pressing us really hard, and we didn’t adjust to that well early on.”
That happened early, but the game was ultimately decided with 38 seconds left in the fourth quarter. A shot from USC driver Blake Edwards was deflected off of an arm in the air, and senior goalie Garrett Danner couldn’t adjust to the altered trajectory before it landed in the back of the net.
“It’s a change,” senior attacker Ryder Roberts said. “We haven’t lost in a long time so going back looking at film is going to be a new focus. I’m excited to see the motivation of our team coming off a loss.”
While USC may have scored the last goal, it was UCLA that struck first – the team struck twice actually. The Bruins had a 2-0 lead at the start.
In another sense of the word, the Trojans also struck first. Junior utility Mihajlo Milicevic, while the rest of USC fielded a rebound, squared up and punched Roberts before transitioning to offense.
In water polo, sometimes accidents happen. Other times… pic.twitter.com/EEktpwzgBp
— Michael Hull (@michaelchull) November 13, 2016
“Nothing out of control. Both teams were being physical with each other,” Roberts said. “I don’t think (there were) any hard feelings after the game was over. Some of these guys are our friends after the game so it was just one of those games that got a little physical.”
Milicevic was kicked out of the game, but that physicality carried over for the rest of the game.
[Related: Q&A: Daily Trojan writer delves into UCLA-USC water polo matchup]
The opening four minutes of the second remained 2-1, and the back and forth pendulum between the two teams lingered on until USC converted a 6-on-5 power play with 3:38 remaining in the half.
That 2-0 early advantage was gone, and shortly after, another man-up opportunity arose and the Trojans had their own 4-3 lead.
“We just need to do a better job controlling the flow of the game,” Roberts said. “We try not ride on emotions; on highs or lows we need to get back to our routines and not let an emotional game get ahold of us.”
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Characteristically, after the half, the Bruins came out composed and chipped away at the Trojan lead. Roberts, who scored with under a minute in the second, went right back to work and scored two in the third. The game was tied, but that lasted for a mere 19 seconds, as USC came firing back with a goal of its own.
“We made some adjustments, and we got ourselves in a position we want to be in,” Wright said. “I thought we did a lot better job on our attack. We still created a lot of opportunities, 10 6-on-5 opportunities and we were four for 10. That’s the difference in the game. They were five for nine. We had wide open shots in front of the goal and we aren’t finishing, and that’s the way it goes.”
Junior utility Alex Roelse gave the Bruins a one-goal lead heading into the fourth, but once again, the proven UCLA defense couldn’t hang on. USC struck for three goals in the fourth quarter, the final one from Edwards sending the USC crowd into a frenzy.
“For me, most importantly is where we want to go from here,” Wright said. “Whether we won or lost today, we still have a lot of work to do as a team, and this showed that.”
The loss will drop UCLA to second place in-conference, giving it a rare No. 2 seed in the upcoming MPSF championship tournament, where the two teams could once again face off.
“One can take two different perspectives from the loss. You could push it aside and not learn anything from it,” said senior defender Chancellor Ramirez. “But here at UCLA, we take full opportunity of learning from our losses and generating that into energy and motivation for later into the postseason.”