During the opening sprint of UCLA men’s water polo’s first ever Thursday night game at Spieker Aquatics Center, the Bruins faced an uphill battle.
The air was cold, the home crowd was thinner than expected, and strong gusts blew against the flow of the Bruin offense.
Two minutes later, the wind subsided, and the Bruins took an early lead after a goal from redshirt junior defender Chris Wendt.
The brief stretch of resistance, followed by a spurt of offense, was illustrative of the entire game for No. 2 UCLA (20-2, 3-0 MPSF), which defeated No. 6 Pepperdine 12-7 last night to remain undefeated in conference play.
Struggling early against a physical Pepperdine defense, the Bruins found themselves tied with the No. 6 Waves (10-7, 2-2 MPSF) with two minutes to play in the half. A goal from junior utility Aimone Barabino brought the score to 4-3, and UCLA never looked back, outscoring Pepperdine 5-1 over the next ten minutes of play.
“What allowed the run to happen is that we never really gave up,” senior goalkeeper Matt Rapacz said.
“It was 3-3, which was too close for us, so we knew that we needed to start playing.”
The Bruins said a deep roster has kept them fresh during the game’s most pivotal run.
“This game took off because we have a long bench and everyone can play, so that’s been really good for our team,” Barabino said.
Strong composure in disadvantageous situations also allowed the Bruins to shift into cruise control midway through the third quarter with an 11-4 lead.
The team’s primary focus in practice has been defending power plays throughout its six-game win streak.
“Personally, I’m happy but never satisfied,” said Rapacz, who raked in 12 saves on the night.
“Defensively, we were really strong, and we’ve worked on our five-man a lot, so this win was big.”
At the helm of the physical Waves squad was Merrill Moses.
Moses was goalkeeper for Team USA and long-time teammate of UCLA coach Adam Wright.
Though they were forced to compete against one another in the midst of an intense MPSF regular season match with heavy postseason implications, the two remain very close friends.
“I guess the reality is that we’re getting old,” Wright said of their reunion as coaches.
“He was the best man at my wedding and I was the best man at his wedding.
“It’s always tough to play against people that you really care about, but at the end of the day, when you’re competing, those things kind of go out the window.”
The conference win gave the Bruins much needed momentum as they head into the final stretch of their season, which will close with five conference games over the next three weeks.
“This was huge,” Rapacz said.
“Every win is very crucial; you lose one game, and you don’t know where you end up in the seeding.”