The 10th-ranked UCSD men’s water polo team went into the home contest on Nov. 9 against sixth-ranked UC Irvine looking for an upset win in its final regular season game. Instead, it ran into a wall in the persons of UCI’s Dreason Barry and Jeff Powers. Barry and Powers combined for nine goals in the game as the Anteaters dominated the Tritons and won the game easily at 12-7.
Guardian
“”Our game plan was to wear them out,”” said Triton sophomore utility player Clark Peterson. “”They are a lot bigger and stronger then us as a team, but we knew that if we kept swimming, we could wear them out.””
UCI seemed well-prepared for the Tritons’ game plan from the beginning. UCSD’s defense allowed goals on each of UCI’s first two possessions from players other than Barry and Powers to lead the Anteaters to an early 2-0 advantage.
“”We knew they had two good players in Barry and Powers,”” said UCSD sophomore driver Brandon Borso. “”We were going to try to make other people beat us. Once they did, it took us out of our plan.””
But the Tritons showed some life of their own and rallied with two consecutive goals to even the match in the first period.
With the game tied at two goals apiece, UCI buckled its defense down while its offense began to run on all cylinders. Using its characteristic physical play, UCI tallied five unanswered goals to take a 7-2 halftime lead.
“”They like to slow the game down and dominate you in a set offense,”” Peterson said. “”We didn’t match their physical play by being physical or playing harder, and we needed to.””
After being down by five at halftime, UCSD played even with the Anteaters in the second half, but the Tritons couldn’t get any momentum on their side.
“”This was definitely a disappointing game,”” Borso said. “”We played into their game plan and it needed to be the other way around for us to have a chance to win.””
A five-goal deficit may not have told the story about how lopsided this game was. UCI outshot the Tritons 25-14.
“”We didn’t take enough shots when we had the opportunities,”” Borso said. “”Most of their shots were high percentage, and most of ours weren’t.””
UCSD’s counterattack often looked as though it might afford the Tritons a scoring opportunity, but the ball was usually brought back out and the offense was set up.
“”We should have taken more chances on the counter,”” Peterson said.
While the Tritons swarmed to Powers and the 6′ 10″” Barry early in the game, they were willing to let other players try to beat them.
“”You can’t take anything away from them,”” Borso said. “”Guys that we didn’t expect to score stepped up for them. They’re a very good team and played an amazing game.””
UCSD will practice for two weeks before hosting the Western Water Polo Association championships, which come to Canyonview pool on Nov. 22 and Nov. 23. The winner at that tournament will go on to the NCAA Championships.
