As the season rattles on for the UCLA women’s water polo team, the opponents keep changing, but the song remains the same.
Entering the fourth month on their schedule, the No. 1 Bruins have yet to lose a game. Whether their opponent is a proven team vying for a championship or a struggling team hoping to surprise, the Bruins continue to triumph.
This weekend, UCLA (24-0, 10-0 MPSF) hosted two conference foes at different places in the standings, but that did not keep them from suffering a similar fate at the hands of the Bruins. UCLA wrestled away a 10-4 victory over Cal (14-8, 5-5) on Saturday and followed up by squashing unranked Pacific (4-22, 0-11) 13-6 on Sunday.
The Bears brought all the intensity of a postseason matchup when they showed up at the pool, as well as a large crowd of supporters to fill up the grandstands. The Bruins were not fazed, however; pressure games are a constant to three-time national champions.
“We knew it was going to be a really physical game and that they were going to play on a lot of their energy. We knew what we were getting into,” junior Anne Belden said.
The Bruins came out with some energy of their own, scoring the first three goals of the match and failing to relinquish the lead. In fact, it was UCLA’s play in front of its own goal that determined the victory.
“I think our defense caused a lot of problems,” coach Adam Krikorian said. “For the most part, we’re just really working well together as a team. Our defense has been great in the last month; they’ve just been lights out.”
Working hard to stop the Bears, UCLA forced turnovers again and again. This helped fuel the Bruins’ counterattack, which consistently put the ball in the net. Junior Katie Rulon led all scorers; she had a hat trick before halftime. Fellow starters junior Tanya Gandy and senior Courtney Mathewson contributed a pair of goals each.
Sunday’s game certainly lost some of the intensity of the previous day, but the outcome was the same. After jumping out to a 7-1 lead over Pacific before the close of the first half, UCLA began to empty its long bench.
“There’s a lot of girls on our team that work their tails off in practice every single day and compete and don’t really get to play, so it’s nice to get them that opportunity,” Krikorian said.
Nine Bruins found the back of the net against Pacific, including senior Kamaile Crowell and freshman Megan Burmeister.
UCLA will host a tripleheader next weekend against San Diego State and Sonoma State on Saturday and Arizona State on Sunday.