Bruins seize two victories against ranked opponents

  CHRIS BACKLEY Sophomore attacker
Albert Garcia passes the ball against Cal State
Long Beach on Sunday.

By Rekha Rao
Daily Bruin Contributor

This was a sad weekend for the teams that put forth their best
effort against the top-ranked UCLA men’s water polo team.
Game after game, opponents were shut down while the Bruins soared
to victory against Stanford on Saturday and Cal State Long Beach on
Sunday.

At the Rose Bowl Aquatic Center on Saturday, UCLA defeated
fifth-ranked Stanford, 10-3.

“It is always fun to play at the Rose Bowl. We were really
fired up to play,” said sophomore goalie Brandon Brooks.

This was the first time in more than ten years that the Bruins
defeated the Cardinal by such a large margin.

UCLA took an early lead when senior Sean Kern scored a goal 10
seconds into the first quarter.

“We had pretty good motivation coming into the game.
Looking at the last time we played them we wanted revenge,”
Kern said.

The second quarter was much of the same; both Kern and senior
Andy Bailey scored to stretch the Bruin lead to 5-1 at
halftime.

“We just came out, and it seemed like things were working
out our way,” Brooks said.

The key to UCLA’s easy win through both games this weekend
was their strong defense.

“Defensively we were playing consistently through the
entire game,” said co-head coach Guy Baker.

The second half of the game was a little slower for the Bruins,
with only one goal. But the action picked up in the fourth, when
sophomore Kyle Baumgarner and senior Dave Parker both scored for
UCLA.

“We kind of slowed down after the half. But we picked up
after the third quarter and played well in the last quarter
also,” Baker said.

Earlier this season the Bruins met the Cardinal and the game
went to overtime. UCLA won, 8-7.

“We got off to a better start this time,” Baker
said. “The key for us is always our defense, so if we play
well defensively from the beginning, it really helps us.”

Brooks helped the Bruins hold the Cardinal to only three goals,
completing the game with nine total saves. He leads the Mountain
Pacific Sports Federation in saves per game.

On Sunday at Sunset Recreation Center, UCLA easily defeated
sixth-ranked Cal State Long Beach, 16-7.

The Bruins scored early against the 49ers, taking a 7-3 lead
coming into the half.

“Offensively, we were better than on Saturday. We easily
could have put the game away sooner,” Baker said.

But the Bruins came alive after the half, scoring nine total
goals. Bailey and sophomore Matt Flesher each scored three goals.
Kern led the team with four goals.

“Things slowed down during the third quarter, where we
were trading goals with them,” Brooks said. “The
defense slowed down after the half, but we picked it up in the
fourth quarter.”

Kern said this weekend reminded him about the California and
Stanford weekend, when the Bruins traveled up north to beat both
teams on Oct. 14 and 15.

“We played Cal the first day and Stanford the second day,
and we were flat against Stanford the second day,” he said.
“We really didn’t want that to happen this time. We
tried to come out with some

emotion.”

Playing like an invincible team, the Bruins are 16-2 overall and
6-0 in the MPSF. They look forward to the conference tournament at
the end of the month.

But the defending national champions are not satisfied with
these last two wins and feel they have some aspects of their game
to work on.

“We are still missing some really good opportunities. We
always come out strong in the beginning, but we have to maintain
that intensity throughout the entire game,” Baker said.
“We weren’t as aggressive as we were in the beginning
of the game. That is what we need to work on for the games to
come.”

Next weekend the Bruins take on UC Irvine, one of the two teams
UCLA has lost to this season.

“We will get a taste of revenge, and I know that everyone
will be fired up for that game,” Kern said.