Tuesday, October 27, 1998
Water polo team quenches thirst for victory up north
RECAP: Tough Bruins engage in bloody, physical matches to beat
rivals Cal and Stanford
By Steve Kim
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
Determination, sweat and glory. A broken nose and droplets of
blood here and there were only a fraction of what poured out from
the UCLA men’s water polo team in order to capture victories at
Berkeley and Stanford in Northern California this weekend.
The Bruins beat two of their big rivals, Cal and Stanford, 7-6
and 6-4, respectively, on what they described as one of their most
intense weekends.
Cal and UCLA were head to head and seemed to be locked in a tie
game, 3-3, in the first half. When the Bruins broke out with a 6-4
lead by the third quarter, the Golden Bears scored a two pointer to
tie it up with three minutes left in the game. With two minutes to
go, the Bruins raised the score to 7-6 and held off an excruciating
offensive rally by Cal.
"We played a really good defensive series at the end," Bruin
assistant coach Adam Krikorian said. "We blocked a couple of balls
out of bounds and had the clock reset. Cal had a lot of chances to
score against us that last few minutes."
That game quieted down Cal as it marked yet another loss, adding
to a four game losing streak. Although the Bruins won, head coach
Guy Baker prefers a sure thing rather than such a suspenseful
game.
"I still think we played a little conservatively defensively for
them to tie us in the fourth quarter, but we’re happy to come out
with a win," he said. "We beat them four years in a row at their
home, so we’ve got to be happy about that."
Sunday was another day to win up north as the No. 2 ranked
Bruins played the No. 3 Cardinals. Stanford came out strong with a
3-1 lead in the first half. And just when the Bruins needed it
most, sophomore two-meterman Dave Parker came off the bench to
score a point.
In between all the drama was another point, as a Cardinal
followed through on a pass and subsequently broke sophomore
defender Andy Bailey’s nose in the first half.
"Andy’s got blood gushing down his face and he’s still yelling
at our team, getting them fired up," Krikorian recalled. "They set
his nose, he went back in, but it bled again so he had to get out.
Then, at the beginning of the second half, he went in to sprint for
the ball’s possession."
The Bruins then kept the momentum going to score a total of five
points to Stanford’s one point in the second half. Sophomore
defender Blake Wellen put away the winning point while fellow
sophomore setter Sean Kern added one for insurance.
"We had intensity throughout the whole game – there wasn’t a
moment when we played passively," Baker said. "We were down at 3-1,
but we were playing well. I liked the way we continued to attack
and outscore them five to one in the second half. That says a lot –
better shape, condition, execution. Two wins like that doesn’t
happen very often."
Contrary to Baker’s understatement, wins like that came pretty
often for the Bruins. Over the last four years, the Bruins have
beaten the Bay Area duo at their homes seven out of eight
times.
"Playing at Northern Cal is pretty tough," said senior
two-meterman Aaron Harries. "It’s their home pool, and the referee
is always a factor. And the Stanford game was one of the most
intense games I’ve played."
Most Bruins agree that Stanford was quite a tough challenge.
Krikorian said it was the best game the Bruins played so far this
year.
"There were a lot of inspirational moments throughout that
game," he said.
"Dave coming off the bench, Andy with his broken nose, Parsa
Bonderson with some big saves, and Brian Brown who played his heart
out and left everything out there in the pool".
"It was the first time this year where we didn’t really hold
back," Krikorian continued. "We just went for it and played without
any fear or hesitation. You could see it in their eyes they were
determined to win, no matter what."
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