UCLA
California (MPSF Tournament)
UCLA Men's Water Polo Falls to California, 8-5, in MPSF Tournament Semifinals
November 25, 2006 | Men's Water Polo
Nov. 25, 2006
Irvine, Calif. - Third-seeded UCLA fell to No. 2 seed California, 8-5, in an MPSF Tournament semifinal contest Saturday afternoon at UC Irvine's Anteater Aquatics Complex. Senior Michael March scored two goals for the Bruins, who will face No. 4 seed Stanford in the tournament's third-place game Sunday at 1 p.m.
UCLA jumped out to a 2-0 lead through the first quarter on goals by junior Marco Santos at 5:33 and March with 2:38 to play in the frame. The Golden Bears answered using two goals in a 55-second span to tie the contest, 2-2, with 3:03 to play in the second quarter.
Both teams continued exchanging goals prior to the break. Senior Grant Zider found the back of the cage for the Bruins with 1:34 left in the second quarter. Cal's Brian Bacharach responded with eight seconds remaining in the period, lobbing a shot past UCLA freshman goalkeeper Chay Lapin.
With less than three seconds to play after an ordinary foul against the Golden Bears, March fired a shot, which deflected off a Cal defender and found the back of the cage, giving the Bruins a 4-3 halftime lead.
Trailing by one at the break, the Golden Bears outscored the Bruins 4-0 in the third quarter to grab a 7-4 lead. Cal used two goals by seniors John Mann and Marty Matthies to gain the three-goal advantage. UCLA freshman Scott Davidson recorded his first goal of the afternoon with 6:08 remaining to cut Cal's lead to 7-5.
The Golden Bears took an 8-5 lead on a five-meter penalty shot by Bacharach.
Lapin finished the afternoon with 12 saves for UCLA. Cal's Mark Sheredy totaled 9 saves.
UCLA (16-6, 6-2) vs. California (28-4, 6-2)
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | F | |
| UCLA | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| California | 0 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 8 |
UCLA Goals: Michael March 2, Scott Davidson, Marcos Santos, Grant Zider
UCLA Saves: Chay Lapin 12
California Goals: Brian Bacharach 2, John Mann 2, Marty Matthies 2, Brian Kinsel, Jeff Tyrell
California Saves: Mark Sheredy 9
