Â
By Adam Titcher
Daily Bruin Contributor
The UCLA men’s water polo team finally faces an opponent
that can avenge a loss to the Bruins earlier this season. UC Irvine
was shut down 12-2 by UCLA on Sept. 8.
The No. 7 Anteaters host the No. 2 Bruins this weekend in
Irvine, and UCLA is not taking this conference matchup lightly.
“I imagine that they have improved quite a bit,”
assistant coach Matt Armato said. “It is not about what they
are going to do, but how well we are prepared.”
The Bruins (11-3, 6-1 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) are
facing a team that has matured a lot. When they first played
Irvine, UCLA’s coaches saw signs of a lot of youth.
It’s likely then that over the last two months the
Anteaters (5-11, 1-6) have learned from their mistakes.
The Anteaters showed some prowess with a close loss to No. 3
Pepperdine two weeks ago. In their game against Pepperdine, UCLA
was down until the last minute when they pulled off a victory.
“We just saw them against Pepperdine, and they definitely
showed us that they improved since we first saw them,”
sophomore driver Nick Pacelli said.
So the coaching staff brought in the Southern California
national water polo team for scrimmages this week.
The Bruins lost in practice, but only after the starters had
given the freshmen playing time.
Now there is a better sense of confidence going around the pool,
especially with a pair of huge 8-7 victories over Pepperdine and
No. 10 UC Santa Barbara last week.
“Hopefully we can ride this momentum, but it is crunch
time and we have to be playing our best ball,” UCLA head
coach Adam Krikorian said. “They have played everyone tough,
and now we have to play them tough.”
Irvine’s coach could not be reached for comment, but the
Bruins vouch that this will be a great matchup.
UCLA has secured the No. 2 spot in the conference behind
top-ranked Stanford, but there is no reason to throw out the
remaining games.
The Bruins are still fighting for the at-large bid for the NCAA
championship tournament. They need to win every game from now to be
successful in the postseason.
“Sure Irvine does not match-up well against us and we are
a lot deeper, but by no means will this game be easy,”
sophomore driver Albert Garcia said. “I’m sure every
team wants revenge on us, and we are going to have to go out and do
what we have to do.”