Women’s water polo remains undefeated
By Sara Salam
March 2, 2008 9:00 p.m.
The women’s water polo team added another victory to its perfect record Saturday afternoon as it defeated UC Santa Barbara in a 12-0 shutout at UCSB’s Campus Pool.
The Bruins handed the Gauchos their ninth consecutive loss as they obstructed all of UCSB’s attempts at registering a goal.
The defensive effort by the team was readily applauded by coach Adam Krikorian.
“I was happy in one respect that we played well defensively in all areas of the game,” Krikorian said.
The offensive aspect, however, could use some work.
“I was a little disappointed in our execution,” Krikorian said. “We need to share the ball a little bit more and just do a little better job at fundamental things like passing and shooting.”
Krikorian said communication among the offense needs improvement.
“I thought we were a little selfish at times offensively, and we could have been a little faster from our counterattack to our half-court offense.”
All in all, Krikorian expressed satisfactory sentiments toward the efforts of his team.
“You’re probably doing something right if you’re able to shut out a team,” he said.
UCLA put two goals on the board in the first quarter, adding another three in the second. After the half, the girls tweaked their offensive strategy as they posted five goals in the third quarter. Two more goals in the fourth brought the total to 12.
Senior Brittany Rowe recorded a game-high three goals in the victory, while senior Courtney Matthewson, junior Katie Rulon and freshman Priscilla Orozco each added two goals to the tally.
Senior Jillian Kraus, junior Anne Belden and freshman Megan Burmeister each contributed one goal.
Krikorian stated that improvement in the transition game would be emphasized this week in practice as the Bruins gear up for the contest against Stanford next weekend.
“We’re going to be faced with the No. 2 team in the country this week so there’s going to be a lot of preparation in order to get ready for them.”
