W. water polo: UCLA glides to ninth-straight win
By Raffi Martinian
April 8, 2004 9:00 p.m.
Extending its season-best winning streak to nine games, the UCLA
women’s water polo team cruised past host UC Irvine 9-5
Thursday afternoon.
But coach Adam Krikorian was disappointed his team lacked the
fire that it had exhibited earlier in the season. Although the
Bruins raced out to a five-goal halftime lead, it struggled putting
away the feisty Anteaters before ultimately securing the
victory.
“We played down to their level and lacked that killer
instinct,” Krikorian said. “UC Irvine played tough and
kept it within a few goals throughout the game.”
The Bruins (18-3, 8-1 MPSF) seemed to shift into cruise control
in the second half Thursday, just as they did the previous day in a
one-goal victory over Loyola Marymount in which the Bruins jumped
out to an early 2-0 lead, but played a lackluster second half and
nearly surrendered the game.
UC Irvine also gave the Bruins a run, but, unlike LMU, failed to
keep it close.
“We were complacent in the second half like (Wednesday)
and cruised through the game,” Krikorian said. Â
The Bruins were saved by the performance of sophomore driver
Katherine Belden, who scored three times to lead the Bruin attack.
Belden did well offensively in a game that was played at a very
slow tempo.
The two UCLA goalkeepers split time in net, as freshman Emily
Feher played the first half and sophomore Tahlia Kerr was between
the pipes for the second. Krikorian asserted that the switch had
nothing to do with the team’s sluggish play and that it was a
general problem. Â Â Â
To extend their winning streak, the Bruins will have to improve
upon their performance Thursday. A tough road game at Long Beach
State on Saturday awaits UCLA, followed by a matchup with
Stanford.
