UCLA
Pacific
No. 1 UCLA Clinches Share of MPSF Crown with 12-8 Win at No. 7 Pacific
November 08, 2014 | Men's Water Polo
LOS ANGELES -- The No. 1 UCLA men's water polo team (23-2, 7-0 MPSF) clinched at least a share of the regular season MPSF crown for the second consecutive year with a 12-8 win at No. 7 Pacific (13-10, 1-5 MPSF) on Saturday afternoon. The Bruins also improved to 15-0 away from campus, including a 7-0 mark on the road in 2014.
With the win, and coupled with its earlier win over then-No. 1 Stanford, UCLA has claimed the top seed of the MPSF Tournament on Nov. 21-23 at Long Beach State.
Four different Bruins had two scores on the day to lead UCLA, including seniors Paul Reynolds and Daniel Lenhart, junior Anthony Daboub and redshirt freshman Matt Farmer.
Krisztian Laczkovics opened the scoring at the 4:49 mark of the first period to Pacific up 1-0, the only lead it would hold on the day. The lead was short-lived as sophomore Jack Fellner tied it at 1-1 (4:37). Daboub scored a power play goal (1:44) to put the Bruins up 2-1. Daboub scored his second straight goal (0:57) to end the scoring in the first with UCLA leading 3-1..
After Laczkovics cut the lead to 3-2 to open the scoring in the second period (6:59), Lenhart pushed the lead to 4-2 with a goal from the front court (5:10). Senior Cristiano Mirarchi put the Bruins up 5-2 with a goal from distance at the 4:24 mark of the second period. Sophomore Gordon Marshall extended the lead to 6-2 (1:59). Tim Reeves closed the gap to 6-3 with a power play score for the Tigers (1:21) to trim the lead to 6-3 at the break.
Farmer put the Bruins up 7-3 (5:58) with a 6-on-5 strike off a feed from sophomore Ryder Roberts. Ben Stevenson the pulled Pacific to with three at 7-4 with an exclusion goal (4:40). Roberts then set up Farmer for his second power play score (2:13) to double up the Tigers at 8-4. Then with 1:12 left in the third, Reynolds scored his first of the game to push the lead to 9-4. Reeves answered with his second exclusion goal (0:51) of the game to end the scoring in the third as UCLA led 9-5.
Farmer passed out of two meters to set up Lenhart for his second score of the game (7:30) to make it 10-5. After Pacific's Ikko Saito trimmed it to 10-6 (7:07), Stevenson made it 10-7 with a penalty score (6:20), his second goal of the game. Mirarchi then set up Roberts for his first score of the game on a power play (5:30) to put UCLA up 11-7. Reynolds added his second of the game off another Roberts assist to hand the Bruins a 12-7 lead (3:05). Stevenson would complete a hat trick for Pacific off a 6-on-5 opportunity (0:54) to provide the 12-8 final.
Sophomore Garrett Danner started in goal for the Bruins and played the entire game, making eight saves. Chris Hughes played the entire game in the cage for Pacific and was credited with four stops.
UCLA was a very efficient 5-for-7 on power plays while Pacific went 5-for-9. The Tigers also converted on the game's only penalty shot.
The Bruins return to action on Sunday (Nov. 9) when they step out of conference for a Noon clash at No. 14 UC Davis.
No. 1 UCLA at No. 7 Pacific
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | F | |
| No. 1 UCLA | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 12 |
| No. 7 Pacific | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 8 |
UCLA Goals: Paul Reynolds 2, Anthony Daboub 2, Matt Farmer 2, Daniel Lenhart 2, Ryder Roberts, Gordon Marshall, Cristiano Mirarchi, Jack Fellner
UCLA Saves: Garrett Danner 8
Pacific Goals: Ben Stevenson 3, Krisztian Laczkovics 2, Tim Reeves 2, Ikko Saito
Pacific Saves: Chris Hughes 4
Players Mentioned
