The UCSD men’s water polo team had a disappointing tournament at the Southern California Invitational on Sept. 14 and Sept. 15, losing all four games. During the following two weeks, the team was on a mission.
“”Since we dropped all four games in the SoCal tournament, the team has worked very hard,”” said head coach Denny Harper.
While there were no games scheduled in the two weeks between tournaments, the Tritons took the time to get refocused.
“”We worked out so hard the past two weeks,”” said senior driver Kellan Hori, who scored four goals in the Tritons’ 14-2 win over Santa Clara on Sept. 28. “”We’ve been doing a lot of swimming and getting into good shape.””
The renewed UCSD work ethic showed last weekend in Santa Cruz, Calif., at the UC Santa Cruz Slugfest. The Tritons dominated the Slugfest against lower-ranked teams, winning all five of the games they played by a combined score of 76-14. The closest match came in a 9-2 victory over Air Force.
“”We’ve been doing a lot of shooting in practice,”” said junior Matt Ellis, who netted five of the Tritons’ 20 goals against host team Santa Cruz. “”It definitely paid off.””
UCSD also continued to showcase its depth, subbing six players in and six players out for the entire tournament. The Tritons capped the tournament with a 15-1 pasting of UC Davis.
“”Everybody’s contributing,”” Harper said. “”It’s been a lot of fun so far, but I doubt we’ll be able to keep [the same substitution patterns] for the entire season. I don’t think I’ve ever had a team with this much depth.””
Sophomore Jonathan Hopkins led the team with 14 goals for the weekend.
“”We’ve been getting scoring chances all season,”” Ellis said. “”We just weren’t putting them in the net.””
The Tritons will have to take advantage of their opportunities this weekend against some tougher opponents. On Friday, they go to San Jose, Calif., to play East Coast power Princeton at Bellarmine Prep, a neutral site — except for the fact that it’s the alma mater of Triton sophomores Travis Boettner and Kevin Smoker.
On Saturday, UCSD travels a bit further north to Berkeley, Calif., to compete in the NorCal Tournament, which features many of the best teams in the country. In their first game on Saturday, UCSD draws a tough Pepperdine team. The Waves beat No. 1-ranked Stanford last weekend.
To beat a team like Pepperdine and the other top teams at the NorCal Tournament, the Tritons will have to play at their own pace.
“”The way to beat teams this week is to work harder and counter harder,”” Ellis said. “”Most of the teams we face this weekend are much more physical, and beating them in a slower-paced game isn’t easy.””
UCSD will face Princeton at 3 p.m. on Friday afternoon and will play in the NorCal Tournament all day on Saturday and Sunday.
