Team has yet to face toughest opponent
By Daily Bruin Staff
May 10, 2001 9:00 p.m.
 NICOLE MILLER/Daily Bruin Junior Kelly
Heuchan protects the ball during a game earlier this year.
The team heads to the NCAA championship in Stanford this
weekend.
By Emily Whichard
Daily Bruin Contributor
The No. 2 UCLA women’s water polo team may be heading into
the NCAA championships as the defending national champions, but
they still have to face the facts.
And they aren’t pretty.
The facts are that their likely opponent in the finals, No. 1
Stanford (27-0), is undefeated and has trounced UCLA four times
this season.
Stanford will also be vying for the NCAA title on the home turf
of its brand-new facility in front of 3,000 predominantly Cardinal
fans.
Finally, the Cardinal boast a consistent and strong lineup
filled with national team members and arguably the best goalie in
the nation.
The facts are in Stanford’s favor.
Stanford has proven it is the best team in the country, and
it’s up to the Bruins (16-4) to prove the Cardinal wrong.
“Obviously our play against them earlier in the season
wasn’t enough,” Head Coach Adam Krikorian said.
“We’re going to have to show a full four quarters of
great play if we want to see a different outcome.”
WOMEN’S WATERPOLO Saturday vs.
5:30 p.m. Stanford Brown University vs. 7:00 p.m. Loyola Marymount
Sunday  3:30 p.m. Third place game
 5 p.m. Championship game  Palo Alto, CA
 Radio broadcast – Â Â Â uclabruins.com
Before the Bruins can focus on Stanford, they will have to
contend with Loyola Marymount (22-6) in the semifinals on Saturday
at 5 p.m.
Loyola experienced the strongest year in its program’s
history to win the Western Women’s Water Polo Association
championship in order to claim an NCAA bid.
“There’s a strong argument that LMU is the No. 5
team in the country behind the powerhouses USC, UCLA, Cal and
Stanford that are head and shoulders above the rest right
now,” Krikorian said.
While Krikorian is not overly concerned about Saturday’s
matchup, he conceded that LMU’s solid starting lineup would
give the Bruins a tough game.
Barring an unexpected upset, the Bruins will advance to the
finals at 7 p.m. on Sunday where they will face the winner of
Saturday’s other semifinal match between No. 1 Stanford and
Brown (21-9).
The blue and gold will most likely be facing a Cardinal
opposition.
With the cards stacked against them and the hometown crowd
bleeding maroon, the Bruins will have to pull out all the stops to
claim the first NCAA title for women’s water polo.
Last year at the collegiate nationals, UCLA defeated USC by a
score of 11-4 to take home their fourth championship trophy in five
years.
This year, the pressure is on and the stakes are high but the
Bruins are not ready to roll over and give the title away.
“We always perform well as a team when it’s
do-or-die time,” senior Kristin Guerin said. “When
we’ve really needed to win, we’ve consistently come out
with the win.”
Krikorian points to consistency as the key to a different
outcome in game number five against Stanford.
“We’ve never pulled out a full 28 minutes of great
play against them,” he said. “We absolutely have to if
we want to win.”
Part of a strong and full four quarters will include greater
attention to an effective power-play. Krikorian cited UCLA’s
six-on-five play as a point of weakness in prior match-ups.
All signs may be pointing at Stanford, but in some ways, the
matchup works to the Bruins’ advantage.
“More than anything, our team just needs to go out and
play our best,” freshman Thalia Munro said. “Based on
the records, we have everything to gain and nothing to
lose.”
