UCLA
Long Beach State
No. 1 UCLA Beats No. 8 LBSU, 11-4
November 08, 2015 | Men's Water Polo
SOCIAL MEDIA: MWP on Twitter | MWP on Facebook | MWP on Instagram
LONG BEACH, Calif., -- The top-ranked UCLA Bruins improved to 24-0 on the year and 8-0 in the MPSF with an 11-4 win at No. 8 Long Beach State (9-13, 1-6) on Sunday afternoon at Long Beach State. The win marked the Bruins' 27th-straight victory, which extends the second-longest winning streak in school history. The all-time record is 50, which was established from 1964-68.
The Bruins improved to 97-21-1 all-time against Long Beach State, the second-most wins against any opponent for UCLA. The Bruins also extended their winning streak in MPSF regular season games to 23, which has already shattered the previous best of 13 (2003-05). The last time UCLA lost a league game was an 8-6 setback at Stanford on Oct. 19, 2013.
While it was "Senior Day" for Long Beach State, UCLA senior Daniel McClintick crashed the 49ers' party with a game-high three goals to lead the Bruins to victory. Junior Garrett Danner registered a career-high-tying 15 saves in the cage for the Bruins in just over three periods of play.
The Bruins controlled the game from the start, pitching a shutout in the first period while scoring twice. McClintick scored first from the front court (2:58) and then sophomore Max Irving scored from the front court, just beating the buzzer, to push the lead to 2-0 at the end of the first. Danner got a huge stop on a 49er penalty shot to preserve the first period shutout.
UCLA dominated a high-scoring second period, winning 7-2, to build a 9-2 lead by halftime. The Bruins got back-to-back counter scores by juniors Ryder Roberts (6:26) and Patrick Fellner (5:58) to extend the lead to 4-0. After Chandler Kaltenbach scored from the front court for LBSU (5:33), the Bruins reeled off three more scores. Sophomore Alex Roelse added a goal from the front court (4:19) and Irving scored his second on a counter (3:41). McClintick then found the back of the net on a power play (2:38) for his second goal to make it 7-1. Josh Tice answered with a power play goal for LBSU (1:24) to cut the lead to 7-2. But UCLA got two more exclusion goals by sophomore Matt Farmer (0:53) and Roberts (0:03) in the final minute to provide the 9-2 score at the break.
The defenses returned to form in the third and fourth periods as both teams scored one goal in each quarters of the second half. McClintick completed his hat trick in the third with a goal from the front court (6:54) and redshirt freshman Austin Rone added a goal on a counter at the 2:13 mark of the fourth to end the scoring.
Danner played all of the first three quarters and five minutes of the fourth in the cage for UCLA and added two steals and an assist to go with his 15 saves while allowing all four goals. Freshman Alex Wolf came in to relieve Danner and picked up one save and one steal while pitching a shutout the last three minutes. Pavo Ljepopio played the entire match in goal for the 49ers, surrendering 11 goals while making five stops.
UCLA went 3-for-7 on power plays while the 49ers went 3-for-8. Long Beach State went 0-for-1 on penalty shots while the Bruins didn't attempt one.
The Bruins close out the regular season on "Senior Day" against USC (18-4, 6-2) on the Pac-12 Network on Sunday, Nov. 15 at 1:00 p.m.
No. 1 UCLA at No. 8 Long Beach State (MPSF Match)
| SCOREBOARD | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | F |
| No. 1 UCLA | 2 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 11 |
| No. 8 Long Beach State | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
6x5 - UCLA - 3/7 - LBSU - 3/8
Penalties - UCLA - 0/0 - LBSU - 0/1
UCLA Goals: Daniel McClintick 3, Ryder Roberts 2, Max Irving 2, Alex Roelse 1, Matt Farmer 1, Austin Rone 1, Patrick Fellner 1
UCLA Saves: Garrett Danner 15, Alex Wolf 1
UCSB Goals: Josh Tice 1, Duncan Lynde 1, Zacchary Kappos 1, Chandler Kaltenbach 1
UCSB Saves: Pavo Ljepopio 5
