UCLA takes lead over Anteaters

UCLA14 UCI 6

By Adam Titcher
Daily Bruin Contributor

UC Irvine’s men’s water polo team had an opportunity
for revenge against UCLA, but were overpowered by talent,
experience and great defensive play. In a conference finale for
both clubs, the Bruins embarrassed the Anteaters 14-6 in their own
pool.

“I thought we did a good job,” UCLA head coach Adam
Krikorian said. “Irvine came out aggressively and physical,
but we handled them pretty well.”

No. 7 Irvine scored first, and led 2-1 after the first few
minutes. Yet, the quick start fizzled soon thereafter.

The Anteaters would never lead in the game again after No. 2
UCLA tied the score.

The Bruins then blasted Irvine with more four goals in the
second quarter to take a 6-3 lead at the half.

The Bruins (12-3, 7-1 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) showed
the composure of a team hungry to repeat as champions despite being
long-winded for most of the game.

The Bruins practiced hard this past week, but not in preparation
for the Anteaters (5-12, 1-7). Instead they trained for their
upcoming meets.

UCLA’s coaches know their team needs to be at their best
for USC next week, as well as the MPSF Tournament in two weeks.

“I thought this was good, considering we had a great week
of conditioning,” freshman driver Brett Ormsby said.
“Despite being tired, we still played well.”

With this victory, the Bruins sealed second place in their
conference and are very close to earning an at-large bid for the
NCAA championship tournament.

In order to do well in the future, UCLA feels it has to work off
of its current momentum.

Moreover, Krikorian knows that his team will win if it plays on
both sides of the pool, like it did this weekend.

“We started out pretty slow with some mental mistakes, but
we finally got our counterattack going,” junior goalkeeper
Brandon Brooks said. “It felt great playing aggressive
defense.”

The Anteaters got more physical and rough due to frustration,
and even attempted to run the tiring Bruins with two late
third-quarter goals.

But the UCLA offense looked past its dwindling 7-5 lead,
expanding it dramatically during the duration of the game.

Junior and freshman two-meter defensemen Matt Flesher and Ted
Peck each finished with hat tricks, and senior two-meter offenseman
Alfonso Tucay dominated with five goals.

Brooks did not have to worry as his team had a season high goal
total.

“We gave everyone some good offensive opportunities
including the two-meter men,” Tucay said. “I actually
did not think I played that well, but I scored some goals which is
always good.”