Wednesday, February 18, 1998
Bruins shatter Rainbows with thundering 14 goals
WATERPOLO: Novice Hawaii team squashed by more experienced
UCLA
By Steve Kim
Daily Bruin Contributor
The University of Hawaii water polo team’s trans-Pacific visit
to California was no trip to paradise, as it was greeted by its
Bruin hosts with a shower of yellow balls. Fourteen yellow balls,
to be precise.
Coming into the game, the Bruins did not know what to expect
from this new team. On one hand, the Rainbows are inexperienced,
playing together in their first varsity season. On the other hand,
they came to the match with a 2-0 record and a handful of
noteworthy foreign recruits.
But after the first quarter, there was no question as to who
dominated.
The Bruins started explosively with fast offense, including
three scores by junior Coralie Simmons and two scores by junior
Catherine von Schwarz. Sophomore Erin Golaboski tied Simmons for
most points scored with three, while sophomore Serela Mansur and
freshman Kristin Guerin contributed two points each.
UCLA head coach Guy Baker was pleased with the team’s first home
game performance and looks forward to continued success.
"I liked the way we played in the first quarter," Baker said. "I
was happy we got off to a good start and set the tone for the whole
game. We talked about coming out and playing good defense and
(getting) going on the fast break. And we did that."
Besides scoring 14 points against Hawaii, the Bruins’ forte was
in their superior defense. As good as senior goalie and team
captain Nicolle Payne is, she didn’t have much chance to block,
thanks to her defensive teammates. The Rainbows could only score
two points.
"We played really consistently and our defense was good," said
Payne. "Everyone got to play and we had a lot of fun."
Just about everyone raved about the defense, and one of the best
defenders of the game was junior Mandy McAloon.
"We have a very strong defensive team as a whole – definitely
not just one player," McAloon said. "To me, the defense wins the
game and that’s shown in our last tournament and this game. One of
their great players ended up scoring only one goal out of her four
attempts."
The depth of this team was demonstrated as even the benchers
participated and expertly held off the Rainbows at the end of the
game.
"We emptied the bench with about four minutes into the game, and
I was really happy with that group," Baker said. "They did a good
job. They made some good progress and played with some
confidence."
Everyone agrees with the respectable performances by the defense
and non-starters. But assistant coach Adam Krikorian admits he
didn’t know what to expect before the game.
"I was a little worried at first because it was our first home
game, we never played this team and we’ve had some slow starts
before," Krikorian said. "But the girls came out strong and even
the people off the bench came in and hung in there to score a point
or two against Hawaii.
"We’ll take what we learned from this week, and that will help
when we play them again in three weeks. We’re still looking to
improve. We’re never ultimately satisfied."
The Bruins have the next weekend off from competition. The next
two weeks is where they fine-tune their skills and strategies in
preparation for a very busy midseason.
Baker hopes to take the momentum of the early season’s success
and improve during this period of two weeks.
"It was the nice way to finish the first part of the season,"
Baker said. "The next two weeks is very critical for the team.
We’ve got to get a lot of work done and improve before we get busy
with the upcoming games."