Bruins to play crucial games
Freshman attacker Bret Lathrope defends UC Irvine’s Brandon Johnson during UCLA’s home opener Sept. 26. The two teams meet again on Saturday in Irvine.
By Ryan Eshoff
Oct. 21, 2009 10:33 p.m.
The number 13 seems to be an unlucky one for the UCLA men’s water polo team, which has been stuck on 12 wins for almost two weeks. Mired in a three-game losing streak, the Bruins know they will have to earn that elusive next victory as they start off the week’s tough games at Loyola Marymount.
“This is a huge week for us,” UCLA coach Adam Wright said. “If we struggle against some of these good teams, we could be in really bad shape. That said, we’re excited about playing these games.”
The No. 4 Bruins (12-5, 0-2 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) have already played the Loyola Marymount Lions once this season, defeating them 7-3 at the NorCal Tournament. Following that match, the No. 6 Lions (13-4) reeled off six consecutive wins before stumbling against Cal and Pepperdine at the UCI Invitational.
On Saturday, UCLA will travel to take on No. 9 UC Irvine (12-5, 1-0), a team it has also defeated once already 10-4 in a nonconference match on the opening night of the brand-new Spieker Aquatics Center.
Despite UCLA’s impressive record against its next two opponents, the Bruins are not taking either team for granted by any means, as they will be in for all they can handle.
“Both Loyola Marymount and UC Irvine are going to present some problems this time around,” Wright said. “I’m positive that both of those teams have progressed a lot since the first time we played each of them, so those early games probably won’t come into play very much.”
The game against the Anteaters on Saturday will be particularly crucial as UCLA seeks its first conference win. The Bruins will face another MPSF foe on Sunday when they host No. 12 Pacific (12-8, 0-1). UCLA will also host Chapman (12-9) in a nonconference match Sunday afternoon.
Despite the intense schedule that the weekend will present, Wright feels that the workload is just the right amount and that the chance to play more of the nation’s top teams will benefit UCLA in the long run.
“We don’t believe that having to play four tough games will be an issue for us, especially at this stage in the season,” he said. “We’re counting on these games to determine what our situation will be going forward. I have confidence that we’ll be able to perform.”
UCLA is looking to bounce back from its disappointing performance against California at home on Friday in which it managed only two first-half goals and gave up four goals in 5-on-6 situations to the Bears. The defense especially will look to improve, as it’ll face a UC Irvine team that has scored double-digits in four of its last six games.
Following the loss to Cal, the Bruins were steaming over missed opportunities and inabilities to capitalize on their opponents’ mistakes. With less than a week to prepare before the next wave of elite competition, UCLA knows it has to be better.
“We have to be better in our execution,” redshirt sophomore attacker Cullen Hennessy said. “That’s going to be key if we want to get back to playing our best water polo, and we need to do that if we want to get back to winning.”
