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Men’s water polo dominates exclusion battle at SoCal Invitational despite Stanford loss

Junior utility Felix Brozyna-Vilim’s success at drawing 13 total exclusions, many from the two-meter area, helped the Bruins win the exclusion duel with all four opponents in the SoCal Invitational. (Joy Hong/Daily Bruin senior staff)

By Jason Maikis

Sept. 30, 2019 11:55 p.m.

The Bruins have had success creating man-advantage situations on offense so far this season.

But their success doesn’t translate directly to victory.

Although it lost to No. 3 Stanford in the final of the SoCal Invitational, No. 2 UCLA men’s water polo (9-1) won the battle of the exclusions – outdrawing the Cardinal 14 to six. Winning the exclusion battle was a trend throughout the weekend tournament for the Bruins, creating an average of five more man-up situations than their opponents through four games.

UCLA induced 16 exclusions – its most in the invitational – in its quarterfinal matchup against California, led by junior utility Felix Brozyna-Vilim with six. Brozyna-Vilim drew 13 total exclusions on the weekend, most coming from the two-meter position.

“The center position is a very physical position,” Brozyna-Vilim said. “That’s just the nature of the sport, so I had to adjust how I trained to play. Offseason weightlifting really gets you stronger and faster.”

The Bruins lost one of their more successful players at the two-meter position before this season. Last year, then-sophomore center Quinten Osborne was second in goals for UCLA with 39 before he transferred to play for Long Beach State for the current season.

Brozyna-Vilim said he put in a lot of offseason work in the weight room and into his eating to grow his body so that he would be ready for the grind of playing center during the current season.

“This offseason, I practiced with nutrition and weightlifting in mind,” Brozyna-Vilim said. “I really worked to get my body into better shape. That helped a lot with my physicality and endurance to swim and that’s a big part of (playing center).”

However, dominating the exclusion battle and two-meter position of the pool doesn’t guarantee wins. Stanford made that clear when it handed UCLA its first loss of the season with a score of 13-9 – while drawing far fewer exclusions around the goal.

Coach Adam Wright said UCLA is going to have to change the ways in which it challenges the physicality of a team like Stanford because it is bigger and stronger.

“We know (Stanford) is a big team, probably one of the biggest in the country,” Wright said. “So we have a choice: We can play into a more physical style of play, or we can move.”

Sophomore attacker Matthew Kacura agreed with his coach and said UCLA didn’t play well because it engaged with Stanford in bigger physical battles that don’t fit into UCLA’s game plan.

“We have to stay centered and not get into the physical game,” Kacura said. “Some teams will be stronger, but we have to execute what we practice regardless.”

Sophomore attacker Matthew Kacura said UCLA's offensive issues against Stanford stemmed from them playing into the Cardinal's physical style of play. (Joy Hong/Daily Bruin senior staff)
Sophomore attacker Matthew Kacura said UCLA’s offensive issues against Stanford stemmed from them playing into the Cardinal’s physical style of play. (Joy Hong/Daily Bruin senior staff)

Besides Brozyna-Vilim, the Bruins have two freshmen centers – Gabe Discipulo and Cameron Reagan – that often post up in their offensive sets. The youthful duo combined for nine of the 48 exclusions UCLA drew during the SoCal Invitational.

The freshmen helped set the tone for the Bruins early in the year as well. Coming into the SoCal Invitational, UCLA had drawn more exclusions than each of the three ranked opponents they had faced.

But Wright said despite their performances early in the season, the team is going to need to understand their current lack of size and experience in order to play effectively against college water polo’s best teams.

“Our centers were great in the middle (this weekend), and we’ve had some good movement with drives,” Wright said. “We’re certainly not going to grow bigger over the course of the season, and we’re not going to get any taller. We are who we are, and we have to worry about how we play.”

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Jason Maikis | Alumnus
Maikis joined the Bruin as a freshman in 2018 and contributed until 2019. He was an assistant Sports editor in 2019 and contributed for the football, men's basketball, men's tennis, women's tennis and men's water polo beats.
Maikis joined the Bruin as a freshman in 2018 and contributed until 2019. He was an assistant Sports editor in 2019 and contributed for the football, men's basketball, men's tennis, women's tennis and men's water polo beats.
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