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Despite a solid offensive performance, the UCLA men’s water polo team fell to the UCSD Tritons in heartbreaking fashion, 13-12, on Friday night. The nearly 2,000 screaming fans in attendance proved to be too much for the Bruins to handle, as the defense had one of its poorest showings on the year.

“We didn’t play good enough defense to win,” coach Adam Krikorian said. “We were nowhere to be found defensively, and they exploited us. You can’t give up 13 goals.”

Up until the game in San Diego, senior goalkeeper Will Didinger boasted a 4.80 goals against average. The 13 goals scored against Didinger will blemish the otherwise impressive statistic.

“Will didn’t play very well, and I think he’ll be the first to admit to that,” Krikorian said. “But he didn’t get much help, either.”

A key factor in the Bruins’ loss was the environment at the Canyonview West Pool in La Jolla. There were 1,740 fans with more squeezing their way in as the noise level continued to escalate throughout the entire match.

“There were so many fans there, it was crazy,” senior Michael March said. “When Adam was trying to talk to us, we couldn’t hear him. We couldn’t even hear our own coach, and Will (Didinger) was getting yelled at the entire time.”

“Their crowd was phenomenal,” Krikorian said. “It’s one thing having 1,800 people, and its another thing having 1,800 people screaming the entire time. It was the second-loudest water polo crowd I have ever seen, and the first-loudest was when we played Stanford at Stanford in the championship game of 2004. This crowd rivaled that, and that’s huge.”

Despite the volume of the fans and the overflowing pool deck, the Bruin offense stayed consistent throughout the game, as both teams battled to hold on to a lead.

Junior Marco Santos scored a season-high three goals with March, Logan Powell, Matthew Jacobs and Grant Zider all scoring two apiece.

UCLA was up 8-6 at the half but let the Tritons score three unanswered goals in the fourth, handing them the momentum to take them through the game.

The teams were tied 12-12 in the final minute, until junior Adnan Jerkovic scored with 28 seconds remaining to give UC San Diego the lead.

Once Santos’ shot missed the target on the final Bruin possession, the Tritons claimed victory over the Bruins for the first time in history.

In spite of the solid offensive contributions, no team member left San Diego satisfied.

“I am pissed (about the loss),” March said. “I am sure everyone is pissed. I am definitely going to step up my game, and I am sure everyone (else) will (do the same).”

With a loss as disappointing as the one suffered on Friday night and a schedule riddled with road games, the team needs to acclimate itself to the hostile away-game crowds more effectively.

“We are going to have to learn from this, or we are going to have a really tough time on the road,” Krikorian said.

ALUMNI MATCH: Though the Bruins were hardly in the mood to play after the disheartening loss Friday night, the annual alumni game took place as a friendly – yet markedly physical – meeting between former and current Bruins.

“It’s difficult to come out after a loss like that, but at the same time it does kind of lighten the atmosphere,” March said.

“It’s always fun to see all these guys and the refs screwing us on all the calls,” he said.

Not entirely unexpectedly, the current UCLA squad won the lighthearted competition, 13-8.