MICHAEL ROSS WACHT/Daily Bruin Senior Staff Assistant
coach Adam Wright gets pulled into the pool by
sophomore 2-meter man Brian Flesher after an 11-2
NCAA Championship win at Pepperdine University. NCAA
Championship UCLA 11 UCSD 2
By Rekha Rao
Daily Bruin Contributor
The UCLA men’s water polo team came home with a second
NCAA Championship trophy this weekend after beating Navy 12-5 in
the semifinal match on Saturday and defeating UC San Diego 11-2 in
the final game on Sunday. This marks UCLA’s third NCAA
championship in the last four years.
On Sunday, the era of UCLA dominance continued. With a surprise
9-8 victory by UC San Diego (20-7) over USC in Saturday’s
semifinals, the Tritons for the first time this season lined up
against the top-ranked Bruins ““ in the NCAA championship
game.
In the first quarter, the Bruins and Tritons traded goals, until
UCLA pulled to a 3-1 lead with two goals from senior driver Brian
Brown and one from sophomore Jeff Pflueger.
UCLA tightened the lead and assured its second-straight
championship in the second half. Through the entire game the
Tritons were only able to add one more goal when former Bruin
Vladimir Djapic scored with 1:40 left in the game. But it
wasn’t enough to top the Bruin players, who threw their
fully-clothed coaches into the pool in celebration after the
game.
 MICHAEL ROSS WACHT/Daily Bruin Senior Staff UCLA’s driver
Brian Brown overtakes UCSD’s Jason
Boettner in the first half of the NCAA Championship game
at Pepperdine. “We had a great week at practice, and it
didn’t really matter who we played,” said Bruin co-head
coach Guy Baker. “We are the fastest team in the country, and
it is hard for any team to match up with us.”
The Bruins won this championship with their determination and
skill, especially on defense.
“To me, this UCLA team is so much better than everybody
else because of their defense,” said UCSD head coach Denny
Harper.
Bruin sophomore goalie Brandon Brooks had six saves on Saturday
and 11 saves on Sunday.
This season has been a tumultuous one for the top-ranked Bruins.
They soared through the beginning of the season with an 8-2 record,
and improved when senior 2-meter man Sean Kern returned from the
Olympics in October. But the end of the season was difficult due to
the loss of senior captain Adam Wright when he was declared
ineligible by the NCAA. Many players wrote Wright’s number,
5, on their arms to show a unified team in spite their recent
difficulties.
“I talked to the guys before the game started, and as a
captain I cannot be more proud of this team,” Wright said.
“If this victory didn’t happen, I would be disappointed
beyond belief.”
No school outside of California has ever made it to the final
game of the NCAA Championship, and though UC San Diego of the
Western Water Polo Association was the first non-MPSF team to reach
the finals, this NCAA title game was not any different.
“I think the teams from outside the MPSF are continuing to
improve, but it could be better balanced outside our
conference,” Baker said.
To reach the final, the Bruins easily overpowered Navy,
12-5.
In the first quarter, neither team scored on their first
possession. Navy took their only lead with 5:01 left in the
quarter, scoring the first goal. But after the Midshipmans’
initial push, the Bruins took control of the game. Kern scored the
first goal for the Bruins, followed by one by Brown, and another by
Kern.
“The experience and capabilities of the UCLA team was just
too much for us,” said Navy head coach Mike Schofield.
The Bruins dominated the second quarter. Seniors Blake Wellen
and Dave Parker both had goals then, along with freshman Albert
Garcia. By halftime, the Bruins led 7-1, allowing only the one
score at the beginning of the half.
“I thought Navy played well, but we started the game off
well. We built up each quarter, and all the 16 men got to play, and
that doesn’t usually happen in an NCAA game,” Baker
said.
The second half of the game featured much of the same Bruin
domination, with Navy scoring only one goal in the third quarter.
Bruin Andy Bailey posted two of his own, bringing the lead to
11-1.
In the fourth, with most of the Bruin starters on the sidelines,
Navy had a small comeback with four goals. Senior Sean Foster
scored for Navy on a penalty shot with 5:28 left in the game. But
the Bruins held on to their lead until the end.
“We wanted to keep the same strategy ““ a strong
defense and everything we had been working on,” Kern
said.
UCLA (17-7) now has 83 total NCAA championships and 103 team
national championships under its belt.