UCLA
UC San Diego (Semifinal)
No. 1 UCLA Advances to NCAA Title Game with 15-6 Win at No. 4 UCSD
December 06, 2014 | Men's Water Polo
LA JOLLA, Calif. -- The No. 1 UCLA men's water polo team (28-3, 8-0 MPSF) took control right from the start, posting a decisive 15-6 victory at No. 4 UC San Diego (16-10) on Saturday afternoon to advance to tomorrow's NCAA Championship title match at UCSD's Canyonview Aquatic Center.
Senior Cristiano Mirarchi led all scorers with three goals.
Top-seeded UCLA got on the board first when senior Paul Reynolds scored from off a rebound (7:40). Joe Dietrich tied it at 1-1 with a goal from the front court (7:18). Mirarchi scored his first on a power play to end the scoring in the opening period at th 4:40 mark as the Bruins led 2-1 at the end of one..
The Bruins used a dominant 6-2 second period to build an 8-3 lead by halftime. Junior Anthony Daboub opened the second with an exclusion goal (7:20) to put the Bruins up 3-1 off a nice feed from senior Chris Fahlsing. But UCSD's Josh Stiling converted a 6-on-5 opportunity (4:30) to make it 3-2. Mirarchi scored his second power play goal to push the lead to 4-2 (3:41). Sophomore Chancellor Ramirez scored a goal from the front court to extend the lead to 5-2 (2:57). After a power play goal by the Tritons' Tiki Toplak (1:55) trimmed the lead to 5-3, sophomore Gordon Marshall made it 6-2 with a goal from two meters and a nice pass from Reynolds (1:44). But the Bruins weren't done as sophomore Ryder Roberts scored back-to-back goals in 0:31 to give UCLA the 8-3 edge at the break. His first goal was a penalty shot (0:34) and his second was at full strength (0:03).
UCLA also won the third period, 4-1, to take a 12-4 lead into the fourth. Marshall opened the scoring in the third period with his second of the game (6:14). Then Mirarchi completed his hat trick with another power play goal (4:19) to put UCLA up 10-3. David Higginson cut the lead to 10-4 with a front court strike (3:36). But the Bruins answered with four straight goals to pull away. Redshirt freshman Matt Farmer struck first at set (3:16) off a feed from junior Danny McClintick and then senior Daniel Lenhart scored from the front court (2:34) off a pass from Farmer to end the scoring in the third with the Bruins leading 12-4.
UCLA won the fourth quarter, 3-2. Lenhart opened the fourth with his second score of the game (6:51) off an assist from senior David Culpan. Then Reynolds scored his second off another assist from McClintick to give UCLA a 14-4 advantage with 4:22 to play. Dietrich scored his second to make it 14-5 (3:57). Sophomore Jack Fellner scored his first of the game on a 6-on-5 opportunity off another assist from McClintick, his third of the game, to push the lead back to 10 (15-5, 1:24). Matt Michalko scored the game's final goal (1:08) for UCSD to provide the 15-6 final.
Danner started in goal for the Bruins and played the majority of the game, registering 14 saves, while surrendering five goals. Senior Stephen White played the final 3:11 of the fourth, picking up one save while allowing one goal. Cameron Ravanbach played all four quarters in the cage for the Tritons and was credited with eight stops while giving up 15 goals.
UCSD was a paltry 2-for-11 on power plays while UCLA was a solid 6-for-8. The Bruins converted the only penalty shot of the game.
The Bruins will face No. 3 USC in tomorrow's title match at 3:10 p.m. It is a rematch of the 2012 NCAA Championship, won by the Trojans 11-10. UCLA is 3-1 this season against USC and 5-2 in the last two seasons.
2014 NCAA Tournament - First Semifinal: No. 1 UCLA at No. 4 UC San Diego
Dec. 6, 2014 - Canyonview Aquatic Center (La Jolla, Calif.)
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | F | |
| No. 1 UCLA | 2 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 15 |
| No. 4 UCSD | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 6 |
UCLA Goals: Cristiano Mirarchi 3, Paul Reynolds 2, Ryder Roberts 2, Gordon Marshall 2, Daniel Lenhart 2, Jack Fellner, Matt Farmer, Anthony Daboub, Chancellor Ramirez
UCLA Saves: Garrett Danner 14, Stephen White 1
UCSD Goals: Joe Dietrich 2, David Higginson, Marr Michalko, Josh Stiling, Tiki Toplak
UCSD Saves: Cameron Ravanbach 8
Players Mentioned
