Stanford d. UCLA 8-5 UCLA d.
Loyola Marymount 7-5 Â
By Eric Perez
Daily Bruin Contributor
PALO ALTO “”mdash; It began to rain again at exactly two
o’clock on Sunday, while the UCLA men’s water polo team
took the pool for warm-ups for the NCAA championship game against
Stanford in front a near-capacity crowd at the Avery Aquatic
Center.
At 2:15 p.m. that irritating phenomenon otherwise known as the
Stanford band arrived complete with its derelict tree. At 2:30 p.m.
the game began. By 2:40 p.m. it had stopped raining and the Bruins
were down by three goals. They spent the rest of the match trying
to close the gap, losing to the Cardinal 8-5.
Stanford (22-1) scored their first three goals in a span of four
and a half minutes, and the Bruins didn’t answer back until
senior two-meter Alfonso Tucay scored with 24 seconds left in the
first quarter.
“Anytime you play such a talented team, you can’t
afford to give them any breaks. You have to make them earn all of
their goals,” UCLA head coach Adam Krikorian said.
The Cardinal scored their first goal on a converted four-meter
penalty shot by freshman Tony Azevedo. Then the Bruin defense were
caught sleeping and gave up a breakaway goal by junior Jeff
Nesmith. Then junior Peter Hudnut converted on 6-5 one-man
advantage to give the Cardinal their third goal.
“It was definitely disappointing to see (Stanford) with
that big of a lead that early, but at the same time I knew it was
still early in the game,” Bruin freshman driver Brett Ormsby
said. “I knew there was a lot of time left so I definitely
knew we were definitely not going to roll over and give up there,
we fought back.”
The Bruins were down 5-1 at halftime before battling back. Tucay
scored his second goal of the night, then Stanford scored. Bruin
two-meter junior Matt Flesher and Ormsby drove in the Bruins’
next two goals to close the gap at 6-4.
“I’m proud of the way the guys battled back,”
Krikorian said. “We didn’t play very well in the first
half, but we didn’t give up. We picked up our play to what we
are capable of, and I’m proud of the way we battle
back.”
But UCLA never closed the two-goal gap. Stanford senior field
man Onno Koelman scored on another breakaway goal. Ormsby scored
his second goal of the night on a cross pass from sophomore driver
Albert Garcia. Then Stanford converted on another 6-5 one-man
advantage and the game with 1:54 left was out of reach.
This loss ended UCLA’s quest to win three consecutive
titles. It was a phenomenal run considering it was done with a
young team having only three seniors left and six new starters in
the pool.
“They’re a young team, and they are going to be a
team to be reckoned with in the future,” said Stanford head
coach Dante Dettamanti, who will retire after 31 years of coaching.
“We had the experience on them in this game. They definitely
belong in this tournament and they had a great season.”
In getting to the final game, UCLA defeated Loyola Marymount 7-5
on Saturday. Flesher and Ormsby made the all-tournament first-team
while junior goalie Brandon Brooks, Tucay and Garcia made the
second team. This was the final game for seniors Tucay, Jon Puffer
and Jeff Plueger.