Concordia University schedules men’s water polo games against UCLA nearly every year, but the overwhelmingly favored Bruins always seem to send their hopeful opponent packing with the same result: a blowout loss.
The unranked Eagles have struggled against the Bruins over the years, outscored by 38 goals total in their four most recent losses against UCLA dating back to 2008.
While it would be easy for the No. 2 Bruins (20-2, 3-0 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) to shrug off this second leg of an upcoming Saturday doubleheader, they are taking the matchup seriously, seeing it as a rare opportunity to develop in a regulated game format.
“We don’t have that many opportunities to play live games, so it’s important that when we do have them, we try to maximize our ability to grow,” coach Adam Wright said.
Motivation to compete on Saturday also comes in the form of an early afternoon game against an MPSF opponent ““ Long Beach State.
The No. 7 49ers (19-5, 1-2 MPSF) took on the role of Giant Killer last weekend, downing No. 6 Cal and nearly doing the same to No. 3 Stanford on the following day ““ both in the Bay Area teams’ pools.
Long Beach’s losing conference record is deceiving, as the 49ers front-loaded their MPSF schedule to include the league’s top-four finishers from 2011 in their first four conference games. UCLA recognizes the need to play a smart, controlled game against Long Beach, despite not having lost to them in nearly a decade.
“They are a very dangerous team,” assistant coach Daniel Leyson said. “They’re very well-coached, and they have a lot of weapons, so we need to be very focused.”
Of particular concern for UCLA is Long Beach State’s arsenal of playmakers, which has changed since the last time the team scouted its upcoming opponent in early-season tournaments.
“It does leave some holes open because every team’s evolved to this point,” Wright said.
“Not seeing them recently makes it challenging, but we just need to work on getting better at things that we can control.”
UCLA has made a point of buckling down mentally to ensure that late-season fatigue doesn’t lead to game day mistakes.
“Fatigue is something that naturally happens, but it’s on us to have a positive mindset and come together as a group and know that we’re going through it together,” said sophomore attacker Daniel Lenhart.
The team also hopes this collective mental toughness will get it over the hump in a championship setting this year.
“We have a good group of guys,” said freshman defender Anthony Daboub. “The past few years for UCLA have been disappointing, but it’s time.”