It’s one of the first things coach Adam Krikorian does after the game.
As the crowd files out and the team retreats to the locker room, he can be found studying the stat sheet, and he’s usually analyzing the Bruins’ success on the 6-on-5 situation.
The penalty situation has been so key for the UCLA women’s water polo team that Krikorian can instantly recall the team’s success from almost every game this season.
“Our man advantage, our 6-on-5, that’s the biggest thing for us,” Krikorian said.
A serious foul in water polo garners a 20-second ejection. These fouls happen quite often, especially in the closest, most physical games. In its last loss to Stanford, UCLA was just two for nine on the power play situation. That stat was certainly a killer for the Bruins as they lost 8-7 in overtime.
“The Stanford game is stuck in our mind in terms of our deficiencies in (the 6-on-5 situation),” Krikorian said.
Krikorian was worried about facing California in the MPSF Tournament, who had limited UCLA to a 10 percent scoring percentage on the power play earlier in the year. But Long Beach State upset Cal in the first round and UCLA went on to capture the MPSF Championship.
As disappointing as the Bruins’ power play has been in their defeats, they have won some of their biggest games by dominating with a man advantage. Against USC earlier in April, UCLA scored five goals on the advantage in 10 chances, sealing an 8-7 victory.
The Bruins draw so many fouls mostly because their talented offense can often only be stopped by a physical, overpowering defense. They are often fouled in transition as well, when opponents are forced to try to slow the speedy Bruin offense in any way possible.
The importance of the penalty situation to the UCLA offense leads to scrutiny of officiating. In the win against USC, both Krikorian and Trojan coach Jovan Vavic were given yellow cards for disputing with referees. In the upcoming NCAA Tournament, fans can expect coaches to keep a close eye on officiating.
“I think we all have scouting reports on officials,” Krikorian said. “We prepare our players for certain tendencies. Other than that we don’t spend a lot of time worrying about it. It’s a very tough game to officiate because 80 percent of the game is going on under water.”
The officiating is paramount when the top echelon teams ““ UCLA, Stanford and USC ““ meet. These matchups are usually very close and incredibly physical. The whistles can make the biggest difference.
“The nature of the beast is that you’re going to get some calls that you don’t agree with,” Krikorian said. “But you can’t worry about that, you have got to play in the now.”
RULON APPROACHES RECORD: Kelly Rulon scored four goals in UCLA’s win over Stanford in the MPSF Championship game, putting her just two goals short of the UCLA all-time record held by Coralie Simmons. Rulon has scored 66 goals this season and 233 in her career as a Bruin.