UCLA slides by Air Force
By Daily Bruin Staff
Oct. 24, 1994 9:00 p.m.
UCLA slides by Air Force
Poloists dodge bullet to win in final quarter with
11-9 victory
By Esther Hui
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
Compared to the squad that battled to the buzzer against
Pepperdine Sunday, the UCLA water polo team that swam out to meet
unranked Air Force yesterday was markedly different. The Bruins won
11-9, although they turned in an uninspired performance and failed
to put the Falcons away until the final quarter.
"We didn’t come out with the same intensity today as against
Pepperdine," freshman Luther Weidner said. "We played well in
spurts. We’d play well and get a couple of goals, and then we’d let
down and they’d get back in the game. "
The Bruins (11-8 overall, 2-4 in the Mountain Pacific Sports
Federation) started slowly, trading off goals with Air Force until
the start of the second quarter. A sudden burst of energy followed
a steal by UCLA goalkeeper Matt Swanson and the Bruins scored two
goals in a row, the first by Weidner and the second by Corbin
Graham. But UCLA was never to score more than 2 goals in a row, and
the 5-2 lead which resulted was never increased.
With the score at 7-4 midway through the third quarter,
confusion ensued after a block by Falcon goalkeepr Craig Thomas,
and Air Force’s Jason Rishel was left unguarded on a fast break
that resulted in a goal. The Falcons then scored two more
unanswered goals, one a two-pointer, to pull ahead of the Bruins
8-7 with a minute and a half left in the third quarter.
"We just didn’t execute well today," UCLA head coach Guy Baker
said. "We’d get up a few points and then we’d lose our momentum and
throw the ball away."
UCLA hole set Mark Sutter broke the Falcon’s 4-point streak with
a backhand goal to tie the game, and a fast break by Scott Turner
reclaimed the lead at 9-8. Tommy Wong and Turner added two more
goals for the Bruins, and the Falcons were only able to score once
more.
Weidner and Turner led the Bruins with three points apiece while
Sutter had two.
"The only times we play well is with intensity," Baker said.
"Maybe it’s our inexperience. The problem is that the intensity
isn’t always there. That’s when you have to execute well, and we
just weren’t doing that today."
