Tuesday, November 11, 1997
Hopes sink with conference defeat
RECAP Disappointing loss followed by runaway victory end
inconsistent Bruin season
By Arin Aboulian
Daily Bruin Contributor
The long season continued for the two-time defending national
champion Bruins as they faced the Pepperdine Waves Saturday and the
Air Force Falcons Monday.
As it comes to an end, the Bruins’ inconsistent water polo
season is going through another down loop. UCLA lost any hope of
winning the regular-season title of the Mountain Pacific Sports
Federation (MPSF) with a loss to the powerhouse Pepperdine
Waves.
Facing the No. 1-ranked Pepperdine (20-1 overall, 8-1 MPSF), the
Bruins struggled at the start of their game. They continued to have
problems until the end of the third quarter, when they were down
6-1.
Although UCLA did score four goals in the fourth quarter, it was
too little, too late for the No. 4 Bruins (11-9 overall, 3-4 MPSF).
The game ended with a score of 8-5.
This loss dropped them under .500 in the conference for the
first time this season. With only one more conference game
remaining, the chances of the Bruins’ making it to the NCAA
championships are not good.
With this conference loss, the Bruins’ hopes for the conference
championship and the NCAA tournament went from slight to bleak. The
only chance for UCLA to make the NCAA tournament is to win the MPSF
tournament. With a 3-4 conference record, the first round will
probably be against the second or third seed in the tournament.
The victory for Pepperdine clinched the conference championship
and gave them the top seed in the MPSF tournament, pretty much
guaranteeing them a spot at the NCAA conference championships.
"In my opinion, Pepperdine is the best team in the country,"
said Bruin head coach Guy Baker previous to the match.
The Bruins’ up-and-down season took another down turn as they
struggled to get their offensive sets. Defense seemed like a sieve,
with more shots entering the net than being stopped.
In fairness to Bruin goalie Parsa Bonderson, he did have six
saves.
In the second game, the Bruins faced No. 14 Air Force (9-12
overall). Air Force is not a member of the MPSF conference, but the
lowly Falcons were helpless against the powerful Bruins in Monday’s
game.
The Bruins recovered from their disappointing contest against
Pepperdine to beat up Air Force and finish the last home game for
seniors Brett Stern and Steve Covec with a runaway victory.
Played in the rain, the game started out very fast, with both
teams getting on the scoreboard in the first minute. The Bruin
defense turned into a cement wall afterward, allowing only one goal
for the rest of the match.
Led by junior Matt Armato’s three first-quarter goals, UCLA
jumped on top of the struggling Falcon defense and built up a 6-1
lead by the end of the first quarter.
As the leak in the Air Force seemed to get bigger and bigger,
the Bruin rain was also picking up power, as all the starters
scored except Stern. Stern nevertheless had three assists,
solidifying his leadership position on the team in his last home
game of his career.
The other senior, Covec, also gave the home fans something to
remember him by. At the end of the game, he got the ball at
approximately the middle of the pool and swam it to the goal.
Freeing himself of the defender with an acrobatic spin move, he
buried the ball deep in the goal, giving the Bruins a 16-2 lead and
sealing the game.
The game ended with a score of 16-2. Some of the players who
usually do not get any playing time picked up valuable experience
playing at the end of the game.
With this victory, the Bruins improved to 12-9 overall, but
because the game was not a conference game, it did not affect the
conference standings. UCLA’s hopes for the NCAA tournament lie in
the MPSF championships, which will take place at the end of the
month in Long Beach.