Anteaters denied at UCLA, 9-6

Steve Virgen

One realization came clear to the UC Irvine men’s water polo team

during and after its 9-6 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation loss to

host UCLA Saturday. If the fifth-ranked Anteaters want to win the

championship in the highly competitive MPSF they will need to rid

themselves of inconsistency.

The second-ranked Bruins (10-6, 2-3 in the MPSF) took advantage of

one of UCI’s worst performances of the season and outscored the

Anteaters, 7-4, after a 2-2 tie midway through the first quarter.

“We played badly against Pepperdine (a 6-3 loss, Oct. 19) and this

one was equally as bad,” said UCI Coach Ted Newland, whose team

dropped to 11-7, 2-3. “We just weren’t playing very well. I have no

idea why. (The Anteaters) couldn’t get their act together. Their

heads were not in the game.”

UCI started off on the right track Saturday, earning a 1-0 lead

1:07 into the contest, when 6-foot-9, 220-pound sophomore Dreason

Barry scored in set. Senior Jeff Powers, the Anteaters’ 6-6,

220-pound two-meter man, fed Barry the ball.

The Bruins answered back, scoring two goals in one minute for a

2-1 lead. But, Powers found Barry again in set and Barry used his

strength to get an open shot and found the back of the cage.

Barry led the Anteaters with three goals, while Powers scored two

and sophomore driver Dan Noon added one. Powers, a U.S. National Team

member leads the Anteaters with 47 goals this season and Barry has

45.

The UCI tandem, which came into the game averaging 5.12 goals per

match, is the highest scoring duo in the MPSF.

However, the Bruins countered with youngsters Ted Peck, a

sophomore who scored two goals, and Brett Ormsby, a sophomore who

posted a game-high four goals. Peck scored in front of the net to get

the most out of a six-on-five situation for a 3-2 lead with 2:17 left

in the first quarter.

UCLA went 4 for 4 on its extra-man opportunities, while UCI scored

once out of its two power-play chances.

“The biggest thing for us was our 6-on-5,” UCLA Coach Adam

Krikorian said. “That’s actually been a weakness of ours during the

season. But, that was the difference in the game. We go 1 for 4 and

the score is tied.”

The Bruins also displayed aggressiveness in the second quarter,

outscoring the Anteaters, 2-0.

UCLA sophomore Peter Belden, a Newport Harbor High product, scored

with no time remaining to give the Bruins a 5-2 halftime lead that

appeared to take some life out of the Anteaters.

“We weren’t playing well and (Belden’s goal) didn’t help,” Newland

said. “They had some shots that were kind of lucky falling in for

them. But, hey, I’d rather be lucky than good.”

Ormsby scored two goals in the third quarter to help maintain the

Bruins’ three-goal lead, as the Anteaters also scored twice, but

trailed, 7-4. UCLA earned its biggest lead of the game, 8-4, when

senior Matt Flesher scored on a six-on-five situation with 5:17

remaining.

Barry and Powers kept the crowd into the game, as they scored

goals late in the fourth quarter. Barry delivered a back-handed shot

in set for a goal with 1:42 left, and less than a minute later,

Powers had enough juice on his shot that the ball went into the cage

despite being deflected.

But Ormsby scored the game’s final goal on an extra-man

opportunity with 23 seconds left.

UCI returns to the wild MPSF action today at noon, hosting

Pacific. There are six games remaining until the MPSF Tournament,

Nov. 29-Dec. 1. An indication of how tight the race is in the MPSF:

Cal, ranked No. 3, defeated top-ranked Stanford, 9-8, Saturday.

“This year (the MPSF season) has been unbelievable,” Newland said.

“I’ve never seen it this tight before, honestly. There are seven

really good teams. They can really beat each other any day.”