Every year, most teams enter the MPSF tournament in do-or-die
mode. Most years the UCLA men’s water polo team is not among
those teams ““ but this year it is.
If the No. 4 Bruins (13-7, 4-4 MPSF) do not win the three-day
tournament over Thanksgiving weekend, their season will most likely
be over.
However, UCLA does have momentum coming off of two straight
wins, including a 12-10 defeat of USC last Saturday, the
team’s opponent in game one of the tournament on Friday at
the USA Water Polo National Aquatic Center on the Joint Force
Training Base in Los Alamitos.
The game on Friday against USC “is going to be a totally
different ballgame,” senior center defender Matt Flesher
said.
“Five minutes after Saturday’s game we forgot about
it because it was meaningless and began focusing on Friday,”
he said.
With a win Friday, the Bruins’ Saturday matchup would
likely be with No. 1 Pepperdine, against whom the Bruins had their
most heartbreaking loss of the year on Oct. 12, falling 7-6 in four
overtimes.
With a win Saturday, it is pure speculation about a finals
opponent, though it would likely be either No. 2 Stanford or No. 3
Cal.
However, none of these scenarios will play out without a win
Friday.
“Both of us have had two weeks to prepare for this
game,” senior center defender Dan Yeilding said. “It is
going to be a really tough game.”
While many would label the Bruins’ regular-season record a
disappointment, the team did periodically reveal flashes of
brilliance, which if summoned for a string of games, is powerful
enough to drive them to another NCAA championship.
On the other hand, the team has also showed a knack for folding
in important games, an act they absolutely cannot afford, even for
one more quarter.
Which UCLA team emerges this weekend will undoubtedly determine
the Bruins fate.
“This year the tournament has more of a sense of
urgency,” Flesher said. “I’m hoping we’re
practicing next Monday. I’ve never experienced a season we
haven’t been in the final.”
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First-year center defender Michael March was named MPSF Player
of the Week for his career-high four goals in the second half
against USC. Senior goalkeeper Brandon Brooks needs 23 more saves
to become the Bruins’ all-time saves leader and surpass Matt
Swanson’s record of 695.