UCLA
USC
No. 1 UCLA Posts 10-8 Win at No. 3 USC
November 03, 2014 | Men's Water Polo
LOS ANGELES -- The No. 1 UCLA men's water polo team (22-2, 6-0 MPSF) remained undefeated in the MPSF and away from home with a 10-8 win at No. 3 USC (18-4, 3-2 MPSF) on Sunday evening. The Bruins also improved to 14-0 away from campus, including 6-0 on the road in 2014.
Last year's hero, Ryder Roberts, who scored the game-winning goal at the buzzer to beat the Trojans at UCLA in 2013, scored a game-high three goals to lead the Bruins to victory and retake the lead in the SoCal BMW Crosstown Cup by a score of 15-10.
UCLA drew first blood when senior Paul Reynolds fed sophomore Gordon Marshall at set who rose and fired for the first goal of the game (7:42). Then USC's Rex Butler tied it at 1-1 with 6:59 to go in the first. Reynolds then scored on a counter attack to make it 2-1 (6:19), but USC answered with a power play goal from Nick Bell (5:19) to tie it at 2-2. Senior David Culpan then scored from the front court off a nice feed from senior Chris Fahlsing to give the Bruins a 3-2 lead (3:10). Mihajlo Milicevic tied it at 3-3 (2:42) to end the scoring in the first.
James Walters gave USC its first lead of the game on a power play goal at the 7:03 mark of the second period. Then sophomore Ryder Roberts tied it at 4-4 when he fired a shot after an ordinary foul (5:00). Milicevic put USC up 5-4 with his second score (4:42), but Marshall got the ball at two meters and fired with a Trojan hanging on him to tie it at 5-5 (4:19). Lazar Pasuljevic then gave the Trojans a 6-5 lead with 2:51 to go in the second that would stand as the halftime score.
Roberts scored his second of the game to tie things at 6-6 at the 5:36 mark of the third period and then completed a hat trick to put UCLA up 7-6 (3:47). Butler tied it at 7-7 after a double exclusion (3:20). Anthony Daboub then got in on the scoring act to put UCLA up 8-7 (2:54). After USC tied it at 8-8, the Bruins got a penalty score from Reynolds to take a 9-8 (0:04) lead into the fourth period. That goal would wind up being the game-winning shot.
The Bruins claimed a 10-8 lead when senior Cristiano Mirarchi scored from the front court (7:14). Then UCLA, for the second straight time against USC, shut the Trojans out in the fourth quarter to secure another win, its fourth over USC in the last six games (dating back to last season).
Danner started in goal for the Bruins and played the entire game, making 13 saves, including one from point-blank range with 1:44 remaining to preserve the two-goal lead. McQuin Baron played the entire game for USC, and was credited with 15 stops.
The Bruins return to action on Saturday (Nov. 8) when they continue MPSF play on the road at Pacific at Noon.
No. 1 UCLA at No. 3 USC
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | F | |
| No. 1 UCLA | 3 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 10 |
| No. 3 USC | 3 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 8 |
UCLA Goals: Ryder Roberts 3, Paul Reynolds 2, Gordon Marshall 2, David Culpan, Anthony Daboub, Cristiano Mirarchi
UCLA Saves: Garrett Danner 13
USC Goals: Rex Butler 2, Mihajlo Milicevic 2, Nick Bell, Lazar Pasuljevic, Mac Carden, James Walters
USC Saves: McQuin Baron 15
