This post was updated 12:59 p.m.
Spieker Aquatics Center harbored Friday’s senior night, a day of celebration as the season nears its conclusion.
One by one, graduating Bruins were honored by coach Adam Wright and UCLA men’s water polo for their collegiate careers in Westwood.
But one senior was missing from the flower-laden ceremonies, unavailable for action and away from the squad altogether.
Senior attacker Rafael Real Vergara left for Santiago, Chile, earlier this week to compete for the Brazilian national team at the Pan American Games. The NCAA’s leading scorer missed the penultimate regular-season contest against the Anteaters – leaving senior night festivities without the Long Beach State transfer on hand for the occasion.
However, Real Vergara’s absence didn’t prevent No. 1 UCLA (22-0, 6-0 MPSF) from inching closer to history. It accomplished what the Bruins – and their seniors – had grown accustomed to throughout the 2023 campaign, ending their home finale with another tally in the win column and defeating No. 6 UC Irvine (14-8, 3-1 Big West) by a score of 13-8.
“Obviously, losing Rafa (Real Vergara) – he’s a big piece of this, but we also want to help him reach his goals,” Wright said. “Of course, we would like to have all of our players healthy and Rafa here, but this group has been pretty resilient to this point with people in and people out.”
Wright added that Real Vergara is expected back in time for next weekend’s regular-season conclusion against No. 4 USC after he competes in the Pan American Games final against the United States on Saturday.
While the Bruins’ offense sputtered early in the game, holding just a 4-2 lead at halftime, their defense held steady, limiting the Anteaters to an eventual eight goals – the second-lowest of their campaign.
Senior goalkeeper Garret Griggs said the defensive effort from his teammates helped to assert himself in the game.
“They’ve been doing really good progressing throughout the year and just getting better and better every game,” Griggs said. “Hopefully, we can just keep stringing it along and get it done at the end of the year.”
Griggs notched nine saves in the first three periods of the contest before turning over keeper duties to fifth-year Bernardo Maurizi and graduate student Chase Honaker, splitting the fourth period.
Maurizi and Honaker conceded five of the eight goals scored by the Anteaters.
“They are obviously two of my best friends on the team,” Griggs said about Maurizi and Honaker. “But at the end of the day, we’re all pushing each other to be better because we all want to win.”
Despite the victory, the senior day celebrations nearly came to a screeching halt. Irvine cut its deficit to one just over a minute into the second half.
Wright said the Bruins’ offensive transition grew stagnant after the two first-period goals.
“Give credit to Irvine, but they were falling back early, and we weren’t stepping into the free space,” Wright said. “Our structure and our counterattack wasn’t the best in the first half.”
However, UCLA’s upperclassmen helped to widen the lead to an evidently insurmountable distance.
Senior attacker Makoto Kenney netted two goals and redshirt senior attacker Jack Larsen added one of his own in the third period, scoring as a part of a 7-0 run to extend the Bruins’ advantage from 4-3 to 11-3.
Kenney – who holds an extra year of eligibility – said while scoring a brace in front of the home crowd was memorable, he’s striving for more.
“It’s always awesome to score goals,” Kenney said. “But that’s not the end goal right now. Obviously, it’s to win another championship for us.”
Wright said with Kenney’s contributions to the team across four seasons, he believes the two-time All-MPSF attacker could continue to play at the next level if he wished.
“From his first year here, he put us in a position, and we won a national championship,” Wright said. “We got one more regular season game, but Mo (Kenney) is a massive part of this. Our hope is he comes back. And if he doesn’t, he’s left an incredible mark on this program, and we would really miss him.”
Senior attacker Hayden Nightingale and redshirt senior utility Giorgio Alessandria slotted a goal each en route to the victory as two other players honored in pregame and postgame engagements.
UCLA travels to USC next weekend, where it will have the chance to end the regular season undefeated for the first time since 2015.
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