With the season winding down and the stakes getting ever higher
for the UCLA men’s water polo team, the Bruins must face what
coach Adam Krikorian is calling their “toughest weekend of
the year.”
UCLA will play its crosstown rival USC on Saturday and then it
must face a team on Sunday that has given them a hard time in both
matches this year in UC Irvine.
While the main focus of the players’ attention has been
against Stanford this season, a game against the Trojans still
fuels the fire for UCLA, especially considering USC is the
defending champion, a title which the Bruins would like to own.
“It’s all about bragging rights,” senior
attacker Albert Garcia said. “They won it all last year. And
we need to get rid of the notion that USC is a better team.
“No one wants your rival to win a championship. I’d
rather Pepperdine had won last year.”
Rivalry aside, there is even more significance placed on the
games this weekend for UCLA.
If the Bruins can win either game, they will clinch a share of
the MPSF conference title and earn an at-large bid heading into the
NCAA Tournament.
“We’re in a position where if we win once, we can
clinch a top seed,” Krikorian said. “But we want to win
both games. We want to continue the streak. Nothing is guaranteed
at this point.”
And if their streak is to continue, the Bruins (16-2, 6-0 MPSF)
first must beat the Trojans (18-3, 4-2). In the one game between
the two teams this season, the Bruins defeated the Trojans 8-6 in
the NorCal Tournament.
“There’s added pressure, added excitement, added
fun,” Krikorian said. “And we’re really good
rivals ““ we are both consistently good.”
The Bruins will once again look to bank on what has worked for
them so far this season to topple the Trojans ““ good team
defense.
“Defense is our strength,” Garcia said. “We
need to keep doing well on counterattacks and remember that no one
can match our speed.”
While most of the attention is focused on USC on Saturday, UCLA
will not overlook a very dangerous UC Irvine team.
In their two earlier matches against the No. 5 Anteaters (14-9,
4-2), the Bruins have barely eked out victories, winning 6-4 and
10-9.
“Irvine is very talented and very underrated,”
Krikorian said.