One of the bigger knocks on the UCLA men’s water polo team
prior to the season starting was that there was no superstar, no
Brett Ormsby. But while he may not be a former Olympian or a
national player of the year, senior David Pietsch is currently
doing a pretty good Ormsby impression. With six goals in
Saturday’s game against UC Irvine, Pietsch provided an
Ormsby-esque performance, taking over the game in the second
quarter with three goals. “It’s really cool,”
Pietsch said. “It’s fun when you work hard and it
starts to pay off.” For this team to be a success, Pietsch
also had to show the leadership necessary of a senior, and so far
this year, he has done so. “He’s definitely been a
leader,” coach Adam Krikorian said. “He leads this team
by the way he plays, more than by anything he says. He’s just
a happy- go-lucky guy.” Pietsch and senior John Blanchette
are the two captains on this year’s team, and both have
helped to complement the leadership of the coaching staff.
“Both of us captains lead this team,” Pietsch said.
“We each bring our own thing to the table. The coaches do
such a good job, but when the coaches aren’t around, we try
to step up.”
CRUCIAL CALL: A serious negative that came out of the LMU game
last week, beyond the lackluster play for much of the game by the
Bruins, was the brutality call against Grant Zider, who had to sit
out against Irvine and will have to do the same against Cal as
well. Zider, a redshirt junior who has been an integral part of the
team this season, was whistled for the penalty on a breakaway by
the Lions in which he kicked an opposing player in the chest.
“To be honest, it was a bad call,” Krikorian said.
“He obviously shouldn’t have kicked the guy in the
chest, but that happens in water polo. It looked like an accident.
The penalty is not appealable, so he’s just going to have to
sit.” The call was controversial because the whistle blew on
LMU’s breakaway, and then there was a few-second delay before
it was called a brutality, which warrants a penalty shot. If it had
just been a normal penalty, as the first whistle would indicate,
LMU would not have been given a penalty shot. Zider, who had one
goal in the game against the Lions, had 13 goals through the first
10 games this season. The Bruins will have to face No. 3 Cal, who
beat No. 2 Stanford this weekend, without the benefit of one of
their better players. “He’s a pivotal part of the
team,” Krikorian said. “We’re definitely going to
miss him, but we have guys who can step up and fill in.
That’s the beauty of having a deep team.”
INJURY UPDATE: Redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Matt Kellogg, who
has had a hurt knee since the beginning of the season, is finally
starting to show some progress getting back to full strength.
“He’s definitely getting better,” Krikorian said.
“We plan on getting him some playing time in the next couple
of weeks.” Playing time may be hard to come by for Kellogg,
as redshirt junior Will Didinger appears to have anchored himself
in the goal with his play in the last few weeks. “I think
I’ve played pretty well,” Didinger said.
“I’ve had a couple of 11-save games, and blocked some
pretty good shots. The goal is definitely to get better and
continuously improve. You really want to try to peak at the end of
the season, and that’s what I’m looking to
do.”