UCLA No. 2 in tourney, nation

For the past six years, Adam Krikorian has stood on the
sidelines of some of the best women’s water polo teams in the
country.

He had the privilege of being an assistant coach to the 1997 and
1998 UCLA women’s water polo national championship teams, as
well as head coach of the 2000 and 2001 national champions.

And though the 2003 Bruins are a bit younger than past national
champions, the stakes are just as high.

Guided by Krikorian, No. 2 UCLA must overcome the loss of many
integral members of last year’s team: defender Jennifer Lamb,
Kelly Heuchan, now an the assistant coach under Krikorian, and
Thalia Munro and Amber Stachowski, who are training with the U.S.
National Team.

“We lost a good amount of players last year,”
Krikorian said, “but we have a good mix of players which
include seven seniors that are committed, have winning experience,
and always play up to their capabilities, and six freshmen that are
ready to learn.”

“On paper we’re as talented as last year’s
team, but as for maturity and unity, I believe our team this year
will be better in the long run,” he added.

“It’s going to be a fun year. The seniors are going
to have to teach the freshmen the ropes,” said senior Robin
Beauregard about the new additions to the team.

Last weekend the Bruins eggbeated their way through the Stanford
Invitational, their first competition since their national title
meeting with Stanford last May.

Only one thing was on the Bruins’ minds as they looked
ahead ““ a probable matchup with No. 1 Stanford in the
tournament final.

The Cardinal trumped the Bruins 8-4 in last year’s NCAA
finals, while the Bruins got the better of Stanford in their
’01 championship year as they squeaked by them 5-4.

To earn a rematch, UCLA would have to survive the tournament
opener against Hawaii. The Bruins were able to mesh well on the
offensive end as senior Natalie Golda, the leading scorer last
year, notched three goals for the Bruins.

“They left me open and I hit my goals about four, five
meters away. If my opponent is going to leave me open then
I’m going to take advantage when it presents itself,”
Golda said.

Freshman Kristina Kunkel drove in two goals in her first
collegiate game, as the Bruins made it look easy with a 7-3
win.

The second round of the tournament brought a waterfront rivalry
against USC, and the Trojans made it interesting in the first half.
But with the help of 5-foot-11 newcomer Kelly Rulon, who scored
three goals, the Bruins were able to pull away with an 8-4
victory.

If Sunday’s semifinal was any indication of how prepared
the Bruins were to face Stanford, they surely made their statement.
UCLA chopped UC Santa Cruz down to size with a whopping 19-0
blowout.

Along with balanced scoring from what seemed like every member
of the team and sensational play by freshman goalie Tahlia Kerr,
who had her first career shutout, the Bruins looked to take out the
entire forest of Stanford in the championship game.

“Our success as a team is definitely attributed to our
coaching staff and all the hard work and preparation they have put
in to our games” Kerr said.

The matchup was in place. UCLA and Stanford dove head first into
what would be another classic battle between two early favorites to
square off in May’s NCAA championship.

The first half consisted of great defense and great play by both
goalies. UCLA senior driver Maureen Flanagan took her first swing
at the Cardinal with a first quarter goal, but Stanford would
answer back with a first-quarter goal of its own.

The Cardinal continued its defensive fortitude early in the
third, which enabled it to steal the ball and lob a shot over
senior goalie Jamie Hipp, but Flanagan took the weight on her
shoulders again and scored UCLA’s second goal, tying the game
at two.

Stanford was able to change its mind-set to offense and pulled
ahead by two with under two minutes remaining. Then UCLA senior
center forward Ashley Stachowski zipped one past the Cardinal
goalie, setting up the Bruins for a potential overtime situation
with less than 55 seconds to go.

UCLA was in good position to score within the last seconds of
the game, but Stanford secured a 4-3 win when Kelty Luber stole the
ball from the Bruins. Despite outshooting Stanford 27-18, UCLA just
could not find their opponents’ net.

“We definitely played hard, had a solid defense and
offensive strategy, but Stanford just capitalized on our little
mistakes,” said Hipp.

“Our team is disappointed in a sense because we came into
the invitational to win four, not three,” Krikorian said,
“but at the same time I’m happy with the way we played
as a team, especially the way our players responded in this being
their first tournament.”

With only one team to look up to in the national rankings, UCLA
may have to wait until its Feb. 28 matchup with the Cardinal for
another test.

And if its maturity and unity come together in time, this Bruin
squad will earn yet another rematch with its NorCal rivals again in
May.

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