M. polo: Bruins display offensive prowess in two wins

After victories over main competitors Stanford and USC in the
NorCal Tournament last weekend, UCLA’s men’s water polo
team was looking to avoid a letdown against lower-ranked Loyola
Marymount and UC Santa Cruz.

By rolling to a 15-7 victory over the Lions on Saturday and a
15-2 blowout over the Banana Slugs on Sunday, the Bruins kept their
momentum.

“We’ve just been on fire offensively,” coach
Adam Krikorian said. “We’re shooting the ball very
well.”

Last year the Lions almost upset the Bruins, but in overtime,
senior center Ted Peck scored the go-ahead goal that gave the
Bruins a 7-6 win. This year, though, it was a very different
story.

“We’re both different teams this year,”
Krikorian said. “LMU graduated a lot of their seniors and we
are much deeper and more talented than last year.”

Though LMU jumped out to an early 3-1 lead, UCLA eventually
roared back. The Bruins put the game out of reach by halftime by
outscoring the Lions by a decisive 7-1 goal differential. It became
apparent that the No. 10 Lions would not be able to mount the stiff
challenge they did the year before .

“It’s always nice to get victories,” attacker
Brett Ormsby said. “But last year’s victories (over
LMU) felt better because the games were competitive.”

Against the Banana Slugs the next day, sophomore goalie Will
Didinger got the start for the Bruins and almost had a shutout on
what was his 21st birthday.

“It’s a really good feeling to start,”
Didinger said. “It was my first start at Sunset.
There’s nothing better than a nice victory on your
birthday.”

Krikorian gave Didinger the start over regular goalkeeper Joe
Axelrad not only as a birthday present, but also to give him some
more experience.

“(Didinger) has had a great year this year,”
Krikorian said. “He’s a very good goalie in his own
right.”

The Bruin defense stifled the Banana Slugs’ offense, as
Didinger and third-string goalie Matt Kellogg, a freshman, were
only forced to make four saves in the game.

The Bruins, on the other hand, eased any pressure the defense
might have encountered throughout the weekend. Ormsby led the team
in scoring against the Banana Slugs with three goals and also
tallied another four against LMU.

Thirteen different players netted goals in the victory over
Santa Cruz in what proved to be a game of firsts.

Freshmen Justin Johnson, Tim Cherry and Brian Jacobs all scored
their first goals for the Bruins, while Kellogg had his first
career save.

Over the next few weeks, these players probably will not be
given many more of these chances. UCLA will travel up north this
Saturday to play dangerous No. 4 Cal, which dealt the Bruins one of
their only two losses earlier this year.