No. 1 men’s water polo drops SoCal Invitational title to USC
By Marion Patricio
Oct. 14, 2013 1:45 a.m.
The original version of this article contained an error and has been changed. See the bottom of the article for additional information.
The No. 1 UCLA men’s water polo team experienced a feeling of deja vu this weekend, taking the Bruins back to the 2012 NCAA championship game where they lost their chance at a title to USC by merely one goal.
Just as coach Adam Wright said earlier this week, when playing four games in two days, “you never know what’s going to happen.”
On Sunday, with about three minutes left in the fourth period, UCLA lost a three-point lead, allowing USC to tie the game and eventually take the SoCal Invitational title in double overtime.
“It only takes two or three mistakes to swing the momentum of the game,” said sophomore utility Danny McClintick.
The rivals were neck-and-neck all night as they competed in the championship game of the SoCal invitational, with the Bruins holding the lead at 10-7 until the Trojans managed to break it, scoring three goals in the span of 81 seconds to tie the game 10-10.
“I think we started to play not to lose rather than play to win like we were,” said redshirt freshman goalkeeper Garrett Danner. “That threw us off our normal game plan.”
UCLA answered with one more goal, reclaiming the lead, until USC scored at the buzzer, sending the two teams to overtime.
After a scoreless overtime period, it all came down to the last three minutes of double overtime, giving USC just enough time to get one final goal in at the 1:39 mark.
With 47 seconds left on the clock and possession of the ball, UCLA was unable to respond, losing the tournament 12-11.
“We had opportunities in that overtime period and it comes down to execution,” McClintick said. “They executed in that period and we did not.”
Leading up the the finals, however, UCLA played three successful games, ending its first game of the tournament, a 23-2 win over Pomona-Pitzer on Saturday morning, with four hat tricks and eleven different Bruins on the scoreboard.
Later that day, UCLA went on to beat No. 9 UC Irvine in the quarterfinals with a score of 12-3. Freshman attacker Ryder Roberts scored the lone hat trick of the game, as nine other Bruins also put points on the board.
The Bruins opened up their last day of play with a 10-5 win over No. 4 Stanford to advance to the finals, but were unable to close the tournament.
“We had a great tournament starting off with three good wins, but didn’t come out with the result we wanted at the end,” Danner said.
UCLA’s game against USC marked the fifth consecutive matchup between the rivals to be determined by one goal.
“I know for a fact the team is super-motivated after this loss and I just know we’re gonna grind it out all week,” Roberts said.
Correction: A quote from redshirt freshman goalkeeper Garrett Danner was repeated twice.
