The key to victory for the No. 3 UCLA women’s water polo team against No. 1 Stanford lies in the paint.
“The center defender is like the center position in basketball,” senior center defender Robin Beauregard said.
“Stanford has a plethora of people that they plug into the middle. We have to have strong team and help defense.”
The Cardinal holds a 15-13 record all-time against the Bruins, and today’s match in Palo Alto will be a rematch of last year’s championship game. Stanford (5-0, 0-0 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) is looking to make it nine wins in its previous 11 meetings against the Bruins.
The most recent matchup saw the Cardinal win a 4-3 decision in the final of the Stanford Invitational Feb. 9.
Senior driver Maureen Flanagan notched two goals and Ashley Stachowski scored once for the Bruins. UCLA had a chance to tie the game in the final minute, but Stanford stole the ball with 20 seconds to play to preserve the win.
Brenda Villa leads the potent Stanford attack with nine goals. Thirteen members of the Cardinal team have scored at least one goal in five games this season.
“Brenda is one of the best in the world,” Krikorian said. “She has earned the respect (from opposing teams) and it is always a point of emphasis to try to slow her down.”
Overall, Krikorian was satisfied with the defensive effort, but the Bruins had a hard time scoring. The Cardinal has held opponents to 14 goals this season and has outscored teams by 6.6 goals per game.
“Defensively, Stanford has had our number the past year and a half. We have had a hard time scoring on (senior goalkeeper) Jackie Frank, partly due to her abilities and psychologically we need to get over the hump,” Krikorian said.
Frank narrowly bested Bruin senior goalkeeper Jaime Hipp in saves, 11-10.
“With our dichotomy of seniors and freshman we were not prepared mentally to play a good goalie like Jackie,” added Beauregard. “We need a perfect shot to score (against her).”
The Bruins have averaged 12.8 goals per game in their five victories this season, with a margin of victory of 10.8, compared to their 4.5 goals per game in their two losses.
The Bruins have 73 goals in seven games while allowing 25. Jaime Hipp has 64 saves with a goals against average of 4.30. Junior center forward Natalie Golda and freshman driver Kelly Rulon lead the Bruins this season with seven goals apiece.
And despite its recent success against UCLA, Stanford isn’t taking the matchup lightly.
“My freshman year we won every game against them except the NCAA championship. The following year they beat us at MPSFs and then we beat them two weeks later at the NCAA (tournament),” Watkins said.
“This just goes to show how competitive both of our teams are. If either team gets too comfortable in their position, it can definitely prepare the way for an upset,” she added.
The Bruins cap off their road trip Saturday against San Jose State. They have a 12-0 all-time record against the Spartans.
San Jose State is 7-5 this season and ranked eighth in the country after defeating UC Irvine on the road last Saturday. It hosts UC Santa Barbara today.