Water polo opens MPSF season against UC Irvine
By Ryan Eshoff
Sept. 24, 2009 9:56 p.m.
Coming off a second-place finish at the NorCal Tournament in Palo Alto, the UCLA water polo team looks to start its Mountain Pacific Sports Federation season in style as it hosts UC Irvine Saturday night.
While much of the focus throughout the evening will be on the opening of the Spieker Aquatics Center, the No. 2 Bruins will look to build off an upset of then-No. 1 USC and a close defeat against new No. 1 Stanford when they face the No. 7 Anteaters.
After edging the Trojans 5-4 on Tuesday and falling just short in a 6-5 loss against the Cardinal a day later, UCLA jumped two spots in the College Water Polo Association’s national rankings, leapfrogging USC in the process.
“Mentally, for the guys, beating USC was a good hump to get over,” coach Adam Wright said. “Am I satisfied? No. It’s a good step, but it’s not the finished product.”
On a team full of talented yet inexperienced athletes, getting a chance to play some of the nation’s top teams and staying competitive represented an important progression.
“It was huge to go out there and prove ourselves,” redshirt sophomore attacker Cullen Hennessy said. “Coming out on top against USC was a big confidence booster for us, but at the same time, our gcoal was to win the tournament, so we know we still have things left to prove.”
Much like their Bruin counterparts, the Anteaters opened play this season by bulldozing their way through a small-scale tournament. The Anteaters rolled through the Inland Empire Classic in impressive fashion, notching four wins. Their smallest margin of victory: 13 goals.
Although this is their first official meeting this season, UCLA should be quite familiar with UC Irvine before Saturday’s match. The two squads played in a round-robin exhibition that also involved Long Beach State in August.
The teams also share a pair of mutual opponents in USC and No. 5 Loyola Marymount. UCLA defeated each of those teams at the NorCal Tournament, while UC Irvine lost to both at the same event. Despite that, the Bruins feel that the Anteaters pose a significant threat.
“By no means do the scores at the NorCal Tournament reflect what kind of team UC Irvine is,” Wright said. “They’re a really good team, and we have to be ready. Every time we play them, it’s their big game of the year. This is not an easy game.”
Additionally, players from the two teams are well-acquainted with each other because of the proximity of the two schools and the fact that both universities draw recruits from the water polo hotbed of Orange County.
“A bunch of our guys play with a bunch of their guys every offseason,” Hennessy said. “We’re pretty familiar with them, and it’s a big game for all of us. They’re big and physical and are going to come out strong. Plus it’s the first game under the lights at Spieker. It should be a good one.”
