In a water polo match disguised as aquatic wrestling, the No. 2
UCLA men’s team (10-6, 2-3 Mountain Pacific Sports
Federation) matched power with power and pinned No. 5 Irvine (11-7,
2-3 MPSF) 9-6 on Saturday.
All week the Bruins anticipated the physicality the Anteaters
would bring, and the game lived up to those expectations. It
featured players on both sides receiving an obligatory mauling
whenever they had the ball, and often even while swimming without
it.
“You know coming into the game that you’re going to
get grabbed, pushed, and held,” said senior center defender
Matt Flesher, “that’s just their style of play, really
physical.”
“We always have physical games against UCI,” added
sophomore driver Brett Ormsby, “I was pretty tired the whole
game.”
Ormsby could not have been that tired though, as the
team’s leading scorer led them yet again with four
hard-fought goals. Flesher and sophomore center Ted Peck both added
two each with sophomore driver Peter Belden providing one of his
own.
And just like he did against Stanford and its top player, Tony
Azevedo, junior driver Albert Garcia led a defense that
successfully frustrated Anteaters’ main man senior
two-meterman Jeff Powers.
“I was definitely gearing up for Powers,” said
Garcia. “He’s big and strong, but the other guys and I
were ready for him.”
Powers ended up with two goals, but on a UCI team lacking in any
depth, only two goals from him usually leads to an opponent’s
victory.
“The main key to the game was the second quarter when we
outscored them 2-0,” said head coach Adam Krikorian.
“We used 11 guys in the quarter and wore them down with our
speed and depth.”
Another key for the Bruins was their six-on-five goal
conversions after opponents’ ejections. The team went three
for four in those situations, an impressive 75 percent success rate
““ much improved over the 36 percent it had posted through the
year so far.
“The six-on-five was something we have struggled with and
emphasized in practice,” said assistant coach Matt Armato.
“It’s really positive for us to capitalize on those
opportunities and see the team respond to what we’ve worked
on.”
Looking at the big picture, the win saved the Bruins from facing
alarming odds for entering the postseason. It was an MPSF
conference victory ““ essential to improve upon their 1-3
in-conference record. From now on, though, every game possesses a
sense of urgency as the team jockeys for improved position to
advance to another four-team NCAA finals.
“From this point on, every game is the most
important,” said Krikorian.