As the No. 2 women’s water polo team approaches postseason play, the Bruins (21-2, 10-1 MPSF) are stepping into the unknown.
In facing the No. 5 San Diego State Aztecs (24-6, 8-3) Friday, who boast a 9-1 record at home this season, coach Adam Krikorian was unsure about what his team will be playing against.
“We don’t know a whole lot about (San Diego State),” Krikorian said. “We haven’t really seen them this year and this is the first time we’re playing them. We’re just going to focus more on what we do this week than anything else.”
Coming off a physical, one-point loss in overtime to No. 1 Stanford last Saturday, the second loss of the season for the Bruins, the lack of 6-on-5 conversions was especially notable, considering it is an aspect of the team’s play that is fairly consistent.
Scoring no points off penalty situations against the Cardinal, both Krikorian and junior Courtney Mathewson mentioned questionable foul-calling that could have played a role in the absence of offensive payoff.
“Typically we get a lot more attempts for 6-on-5 than 5-on-6,” Krikorian said, referring to the Bruins staunch man-down defense. “Hopefully, the game will be called a little bit tighter than it was (against Stanford).”
Mathewson, who sent the game to overtime with her second goal of the day, echoed Krikorian’s frustration with the officiating, but she said that the Bruins had still improved since the last time played Stanford.
“We didn’t get as many calls as we wanted to get, but we played hard,” Mathewson said. “It’s hard to lose on a penalty shot, but we did play better than we had last time we met.”
As for San Diego State, both Krikorian and Mathewson acknowledged that playing the Aztecs, especially in a road game, will not be easy.
“We’re playing at their place and they’re having a great year, one of the best they’ve had in a long time,” Krikorian said. “Other than the top three (Stanford, UCLA, USC), I think they are just as talented physically as any other team in the country.”
This season, the Aztecs have had significant wins as well, including victories over highly ranked opponents California, UC Irvine and San Jose State, drastically improving from last year’s mediocre home record of 4-3.
“They are better than they have been in the past couple years,” Mathewson said of the Aztecs. “I think it will be our last tough game in the conference.”