Bruins stay hot, Anteaters cold

IRVINE — Visiting UCLA threw a perfect 10 at the UC Irvine men’s water polo team Friday night, or more specifically at senior goalie Matt Garcia, which only made the Anteaters look like they took a dive.

After trailing, 3-1, at the end of the first quarter in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation contest at Anteater Pool, the No. 4-ranked Bruins (11-2, 1-1 in conference) converted 10 consecutive shots, carrying past the midway point of the third quarter, on their way to a 12-5 blowout victory.

UCLA, a 12-11 loser against visiting UCI in sudden-death overtime on Sept. 22, made 12 of 24 shot attempts, while thoroughly frustrating the No. 6-ranked Anteaters (6-4, 1-1) with its solid defense.

After converting three of eight shots in the opening quarter, UCI missed its first four attempts in the second quarter and finished the period just one for seven. Including the final two shots before halftime, UCI missed 17 consecutive shots, which were either saved by UCLA sophomore goalie Chay Lapin (13 saves on the night), deflected by defenders, sailed wide or high, or bounded off a goal post.

“A tough loss,” UCI Coach Marc Hunt said. “UCLA played very well. I don’t know the numbers, but our shooting percentage was very low.”

UCI, in fact, found the net on just five of its 32 attempts, an anemic 15.6%.

UCLA Coach Adam Krikorian said his team did nothing special on defense, though it did manage to hold UCI senior All-American Tim Hutten scoreless. Hutten, who scored seven goals in the previous win over the Bruins this season, had no shots in the opening half and was zero for five after intermission.

“We just got after it a little bit more,” Krikorian said of the difference for his team from the previous UCI match. “We were pretty disappointed [with the Sept. 22 outcome]. Tim Hutten [who entered the game with 37 goals in nine games] is an unbelievable player. But I don’t care how good you are, I don’t think you should be scoring seven goals.”

Senior driver Colin Mello paced the Anteaters with three goals, all in the first half.

Meanwhile, nine Bruins found the net, led by senior Justin Johnson. Senior Marco Santos had two goals, while seven others had one apiece, including freshman Clay Jorth, a Newport Harbor High product.

Krikorian said the Bruins were not only inspired by their previous setback against UCI, but also by a 7-6 MPSF-opening road loss at Stanford Sept. 29.

In three games since the Stanford loss, the Bruins have outscored teams a combined 49-13.

“I think we were disappointed off of our loss last week against Stanford,” Krikorian said. “I felt like [Stanford] was a team that just wanted it a little bit more than us. We promised ourselves, from now on, that no one is going to want it more than us. If teams are going to beat us, they’re going to beat us with their execution and their talent and their ability. Hence, we were very excited to play tonight.”

UCI, which received nine saves from Garcia, some of which were spectacular, is likely excited to have this one behind it.

“I thought [the Bruins] played well,” Hunt said. “At the same time, we made some crucial errors. I guess that’s a positive you can take out of this is that when you feel you’re making the mistakes on your side, that is something you can improve on, especially this time of the season.”

The five goals were the fewest this season by the ’Eaters, who had won three of their previous four games, all four of which were decided by one goal.

The 12 goals were the most given up by UCI this season.

Freshman driver Brandon Johnson and junior two-meter man Jesse Hatch rounded out the scoring for UCI, which plays host to the Southern California Tournament that begins Oct. 13 at UCI and Corona del Mar High.

Mountain Pacific Sports Federation

UCLA 12, UC Irvine 5

SCORE BY QUARTERS

UCLA – Johnson 3, Santos 2, Sbutega 1, Simpkins 1, Davidson 1, Jorth 1, Jacobs 1, Kuga 1, Jemmett 1. Saves – Lapin 13.

UCI– Mello 3, Johnson 1, Hatch 1. Saves – Garcia 9.

BARRY FAULKNER may be reached at (714) 966-4615 or at [email protected].