The sparkling LED scoreboard gracing the Spieker Aquatics Center was far from the only bright spot Saturday night, as the No. 2 UCLA men’s water polo team opened Mountain Pacific Sports Federation play with a 10-4 victory over UC Irvine.
Playing under the lights in front of a packed house in their new facilities, the Bruins (9-1, 1-0) used a stifling defense and an aggressive counterattack to create early scoring chances. The Bruins jumped out to a 2-0 lead with goals from redshirt senior attacker Scott Davidson and redshirt sophomore attacker Cullen Hennessy.
Davidson would add another goal and two assists before halftime as UCLA built a 6-1 edge. The Bruins were never really threatened by the No. 7 Anteaters (6-4, 0-1).
The Bruins’ 10 goals came on a variety of scenarios, ranging from close-range putbacks, to clever touch passes, to 6-on-5 precision. UCLA finished the night 2 for 6 with the man advantage, something they were focused on entering the match.
“We made our mistakes tonight, but I think we did a lot better in 6-on-5 play,” Davidson said. “Transition goals were key tonight, too. If you can get a break and get a good shot, you have to take advantage of those opportunities.”
As has been their calling card in this young season, the Bruins relied on a formidable defense to smother most of the Anteaters’ good scoring opportunities.
One of UC Irvine’s four goals came on a penalty shot by senior utility man Cole Bielskis, who was the only bright spot for the Anteaters most of the night. He tallied three of their four goals and created havoc from the point.
Aside from Bielskis’ occasional moment of brilliance, UCLA’s defense was stifling, particularly 5-on-6 in which the Anteaters converted only one of their eight opportunities. Redshirt senior goalkeeper Chay Lapin was sturdy again in the cage, making a number of spectacular saves to cover for the rare defensive breakdown.
“Defense has been our focus for a long time now,” coach Adam Wright said. “It’s nice to see that we can hold things down like that. In addition to preventing them from getting scoring opportunities, it gives us the chance to create something going the other way.”
UCLA freshman utility man Josh Samuels scored in the second quarter and again in the game’s final minute to run his team-leading total in goals to 17.
Davidson’s two tallies boosted his total for the year to 14, and Hennessy continued his impressive play so far this season with two goals and a pair of assists.
Redshirt junior center Jacob Murphy, junior attacker Ben Hohl, junior defender Emilio Vieira and freshman attacker Griffin White each scored once to round out the scoring for the Bruins.
After scoring just 10 goals total in consecutive games against USC and Stanford, the Bruins’ offense bounced back with an impressive all-around performance, leaving Wright satisfied.
“When you can create transition opportunities and get a lot of guys involved offensively, good things will happen,” Wright said. “It was nice to see us capitalize and finish plays in a positive manner.”
The Bruins will next make a return trip to Palo Alto to play No. 1 Stanford (8-0) on Saturday.
UCLA suffered its only loss this season to the Cardinal in the final of the last week’s NorCal Tournament, held this year in Palo Alto. In that game, the Cardinal got all six of its goals from brothers Drac and Janson Wigo.
Should the Bruins aim to avenge that loss, the defense will need to prove itself. On Saturday, it shone as brightly as their new home.