Squad’s defense holds up in win over “˜SC
By Daily Bruin Staff
Oct. 7, 2001 9:00 p.m.
 MANDY WHITING Freshman driver Brett
Ormsby passes the ball during No. 3 UCLA’s 7-5 victory
over No. 2 USC on Saturday. UCLA 7USC 5
By Adam Titcher
Daily Bruin Contributor
The game was expected to be a shootout from the beginning and it
ended up a defensive duel.
The UCLA men’s water polo team showed USC what it takes to
be a top-ranked club. The Bruins fended off a second-half Trojan
comeback to win 7-5 on Saturday.
In a must-win conference matchup for both teams, UCLA and USC
displayed a tremendous defensive effort. Both were trying to save
face from losses to top-ranked Stanford last week.
“The loss to Stanford was tough,” UCLA head coach
Adam Krikorian said. “But this definitely makes up for
it.”
The No. 3 Bruins (5-1 overall, 3-0 Mountain Pacific Sports
Federation) are satisfied because they look to stay ranked in the
top three despite losing to Stanford. The No. 2 Trojans (3-2, 3-2)
will most likely move down after consecutive losses to UCLA and
Stanford.
After winning the tip, the Bruins showed a much-missed
aggressive defense. So did the Trojans: both teams exchanged
several steals and missed shot attempts the whole game.
Bruin senior driver Jeff Pfleuger received consecutive ejections
early in the first quarter, leading to a penalty shot for the
Trojans.
Trojan senior utilityman Daniel Lontay converted the shot, but
the Bruins used that goal as motivation to make their comeback.
Holding the Trojans scoreless after the penalty shot, the Bruins
took the lead with three goals in the first quarter ““ an
offensive effort spearheaded by freshman driver Brett Ormsby, who
finished the game with four goals.
But after the half the Trojans took advantage of Bruin foul
trouble.
The Trojans scored three goals in two minutes, including one
with six seconds left on the clock in the third quarter to tie the
game at four.
“The key was going to be how we would come out in the
fourth quarter,” Krikorian said. “I told them composure
was important.”
The Bruins took Krikorian’s advice and turned the game
around after USC senior two-meter defenseman Nenad Praporski was
ejected from the game with 3:45 remaining.
UCLA scored three power play goals in a minute and a half to
secure the victory.
“(Our play) was definitely an improvement from the
Stanford game, but it was not good enough,” USC head coach
Jovan Vavic said.
Because the Cardinal plays in a different conference, the Bruins
are ecstatic to retain their perfect conference record.
As long as the Bruins keep the emotion flowing, a lot of the
players feel they can continue to be successful in the coming
weeks.
“We got an opportunity to do really well,” Flesher
said. “We are now carrying the momentum.”
