All the caps had been put away after Wednesday night’s practice, all the whistles were stored for another day of training and all the shot clocks had turned off, yet some members of the UCLA men’s water polo team remained in the pool.
Holding impromptu long-shot contests and quick pass drills, the Bruins fought and jawed, not appearing like a team just coming off its biggest win of the season against No. 7 California.
To add even more temptation to dip into complacency, No. 3 UCLA (17-2, 1-0 MPSF) now finds itself in the midst of a two-week break before returning to Mountain Pacific Sports Federation play against
No. 2 UC Santa Barbara (14-3).
The Bruins, however, look to utilize the break as more of a business trip than a vacation.
“Obviously, I have to hold the guys accountable,” coach Adam Wright said. “It’s easy to let their minds slip because there’s no game this weekend, but it’s the staff’s job to make sure we’re training with a high intensity.”
Last Saturday, UCLA traveled up to Berkeley to open its regular conference season against Cal and won in a sudden-death overtime nail-biter, 10-9.
“I think in the end we knew that if we could pull it together and work as a team then we could get it done,” said Rapacz.
The Comeback Kids
One focus for UCLA in the coming weeks will be to lock onto games early on to avoid the need for consistent heroic comebacks.
The Bruins were forced to battle back from a 5-1 halftime deficit in last Saturday’s matchup.
Falling behind early is also what plagued the team in its last loss two weekends ago to UC Santa Barbara in the SoCal Tournament. The Gauchos earned the upset victory after taking a four-goal lead into the third quarter.
“We’re putting ourselves in a hole early on in games and so our transition game must get much, much better,” Wright said. “We discussed before the season even started that we can use these two weeks to recharge our batteries and really get after it physically.”
First-Time Accolades
After posting four goals in the Bruins’ conference opener, including the game-winner on a penalty shot in sudden-death overtime, senior utility Josh Samuels was named MPSF Player of the Week.
This marks the first time Samuels has received the honor.
“It’s exciting to win, but it’s nothing really special,” Samuels said.
“Right now our ultimate goal is to win an NCAA title and I’d gladly trade ten MPSF Player of the Weeks for that.”