Nov. 26, 2000

LOS ALAMITOS - Brian Brown scored four goals to lead the UCLA men's water polo team to a 6-5 victory over California in the championship game of the MPSF Tournament. With the win, UCLA earns the automatic berth to the NCAA Championships which will be held next weekend at Pepperdine.

UCLA trailed at the half, 3-2, but scored three unanswered goals, two from Brown, to take a 5-3 lead early in the fourth quarter. With the Bruins ahead 6-4, Eldad Hazor brought Cal to within one with a goal with 39 seconds left on the clock, but the Bruins controlled the next possession and prevented Cal from taking more than a desperation shot with the clock winding down. Brown led all scorers with four goals. UCLA improves its record to 21-3, while Cal drops to 16-9.

#2 UCLA (21-3) 1 1 2 2= 6

#4 California (16-9) 1 2 0 2= 5

UCLA: Brian Brown 4, Matt Flesher, Sean Kern.
California: Eldad Hazor 2, James Lathrop, Attila Banhidy, Joe Kaiser.
Saves: California-Russell Bernstein, 11. UCLA - Brandon Brooks, 5.

Post-Game Quotes:
Cal head coach Peter Asch:
"I just thought the tournament was a reflection of the whole season. Every game is so tough. I thought both teams played very well, and it's a shame that one of them had to lose. It was a high-end, toe-to-toe affair."
(On the NCAA berth) "I think any number of teams deserve a berth. Any one of the teams from our conference would be a good representative. You'd love to see this type of event at the NCAAs and not the conference championship."

UCLA Co-Head Coach Guy Baker:
"The last couple of times we played them we beat them by seven, but you just knew that tonight was going to be a real close game. This tournament is always close, especially the finals, but it was good.
"When we were up two with a minute to go, I felt pretty good about it. I knew that even if they scored, we'd probably be able to run enough clock off so that we'd be in pretty good shape."
(On Brian Brown) "Brian was big. I liked the way he reacted after he scored. He's a very quiet guy. It's out of his character to show emotion like that. I think that got everyone going when he pumped his fist and showed emotion."

UCLA playmaker Brian Brown:
"We knew we had to win to go to the NCAAs, so it was do or die. We had to give everything we had, and we did. The first half we just weren't putting some shots away. Finally the second half we kept up the 'D', countered and put some shots away. It was nice."