Weekend holds tough matches for Bruins

  EDWARD LIN Bruin Brian Brown looks to
pass over his opponent in a game against Loyola Marymount at Sunset
Canyon Recreation Center last Saturday.

By Rekha Rao
Daily Bruin Contributor

The top-ranked UCLA men’s water polo team hopes to
continue its 12-game winning streak when it plays Stanford on
Saturday and Long Beach State twice on Sunday.

Stanford, which is ranked third in the nation, comes to the game
off a win against Pepperdine and a loss against UC Irvine last
weekend.

“We are looking forward to playing them (Stanford). We
played them last year in the NCAA finals, and this time we want to
come out with a lot of intensity and focus,” senior defender
Andy Bailey said.

The last time that the Bruins played the Cardinal, the game was
decided in an overtime, as UCLA won 8-7 on Oct. 15. The Bruins hope
to avoid the pinch ending by playing a better game this time
around.

“We were just out there going through the motions, instead
of concentrating on giving our full effort,” co-head coach
Adam Krikorian said of the Bruins’ overtime win.

This weekend, UCLA hopes to handle the ball better and focus
more in order to beat Stanford early in the game.

“We have to play with more energy than (the) last time we
played. They have a good team with a very good goalie and we will
have to shoot the ball much better than last time,” added
Krikorian.

Many players attribute the close overtime finish to a slow start
early in the first quarter.

“Hopefully, we won’t start out so sluggish,”
senior Dave Parker said. “We came in off a big win, so we
took a relaxed attitude into that game. We underestimated them last
time. A lot of teams had beaten them already and so we thought it
wouldn’t be as demanding of a game. But this time, they are
better.”

The game will be played on Saturday at the Rose Bowl Aquatic
Center, right before the football game at the Rose Bowl.

“Playing there, we try and filter some of the fans that
are going to the football game on Saturday. So we hope to have a
big crowd there,” Bailey said.

On Sunday, the Bruins take on sixth-ranked Long Beach State at
the Sunset Recreation Center.

“They are having a really good season. Their coach coached
four of our players in high school, and they are definitely a rival
of ours,” Bailey said.

UCLA has faced the 49ers once earlier this season, during the
Southern California Tournament, where they won with a score of
13-6.

“It was a long time ago, at the beginning of the year
where everyone was just feeling each other out,” Krikorian
said. “They are a different team now and are playing much
better than they did in the So Cal Tournament.”

These last two weeks have been a sort of vacation for UCLA,
which beat Loyola Marymount last weekend, 16-2. The Bruins have had
a relaxing two weeks at home without constant travel as they had
earlier in the season.

But there is some fear the break will allow the Bruins to be
caught off guard.

“It is definitely a concern for us, at least for Guy
(Baker) and I,” Krikorian said. “We played LMU last
weekend, and it wasn’t a challenge. It has been a good rest
for us, both physically and mentally.”

The Bruins now must take their recent time off and use it to
their advantage and not let the relaxation affect their game.

“We have to play solid for a whole 28 minutes, not just a
couple minutes here and there. Both these teams will make us play a
full game, and not let us rest,” Krikorian said.

Both games are MSPF conference games and count towards the
tournament, which will be played on November 24-26 in Los Alamitos.
Until then, the winning team is just enjoying playing at home and
taking it one game at a time.