Sunday, September 24
Los Angeles, CA
2:30 PM
UCLA
13
at
11
USC
Senior Max Irving scored a career-high six goals in the win over #2 USC.
Photo by: Don Liebig, UCLA Photography
No. 4 UCLA Completes Amazing Weekend
September 24, 2017 | Men's Water Polo
The Bruins rallied to win the Mountain Pacific Invitational title at #2 USC, 13-11.
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The matchup between USC and UCLA was the first of the 2017-18 academic year. The Bruins' win earns UCLA five points in the all-sport crosstown cup rivalry challenge between the two schools and ties the score,ย 5-5. UCLA won the head-to-head battle in 2016-17 for the second time in three years by a score of 105-85.
Senior Max Irving led the Bruins with a career-high six goals against the Trojans. Senior Alex Roelse also added four scores while freshman Nicolas Saveljicย chipped in two more. Redshirt sophomore Alex Wolf played the entire game in goal, registering 10 saves, two steals and one assist while surrendering 11 goals.
Blake Edwards got the Trojans on the board first with a power play goal (6:15). Butย Saveljicย answered with a power play of his own to tie the game at 1-1 (5:32).ย Roelse put the Bruins in front 2-1 (4:39) with a power play goal. But Grant Stein provided the equalizer just eight seconds later (4:31). Zach D'Sa put the Trojans in front 3-2 with a goal at full strength (2:37) and Bryce Hoermanย connected on a power play strike, the Trojans' fourth of the first period, to give USC a 4-2 lead (1:13) at the end of the first.
Irving cut the deficit in half with a goal at even strength to open the scoring in the second period (6:23) with the Bruins trailing 4-3. Roelse then netted his second of the game to tie it up at 4-4 with 4:21 left in the first half. D'Sa answered for USC with his second of the contest to put the Trojans back in front, 5-4 (4:07). Then freshman Chasen Travisano scored a power play goal for the Bruins (2:40) to tie it again at 5-5. Mihajlo Milicevic returned the favor with a power play goal for the Trojans (2:19), but Roelseย completed his hat trick with a 6-on-5 score to end the scoring in the first half with both teams scoring six goals apiece.ย
Irving scored his second of the game on a power play to open the scoring in the third period (4:34) to give UCLA a 7-6 edge. But Marin Dasic scored on a 6-on-4 opportunity for USC (3:58) to tie it back up at 7-7. Irving then completed his hat trick with a power play strike (1:37) that put the Bruins in front, 8-7. But Lachlan Edwards tied the game at 8-8 with a goal a even strength (0:39). Then Irving scored his fourth of the game on another power play (0:13) to end the scoring in the third with the Bruins leading 9-8.
Wolf made a huge stop on a Matteo Morelliย penalty shot (7:26) to keep the Bruins in the lead at the start of the fourth period.ย Roelseย would openย the scoring in the fourth quarter with his fourth of the game to put UCLA up 10-8 on a power play (6:52). Marko Vavic scored a power play goal for USC (6:25) to cut it to 10-9. But Irving scored his fifth of the game (5:00) to push the lead to 11-9. Saveljic'sย second of the game came from the front court (4:13) and put the Bruins up 12-9. But USC's Stein mounted a comeback, scoring back-to-back goals (3:07 and 1:47) to complete his hat trick, cutting the lead to 12-11. USC had plenty of chances down the stretch, but each time, UCLA's defense was up to the challenge. Especially the play of Wolf, who registered five of his 10 saves in the final period, including three on Trojan power plays and another on a penalty shot to preserve the win. Irving would add an insurance goal as time expired, his sixth of the game, to provide the 13-11 final.
The Bruins return to action on Saturday, Sept. 30 in a non-conference game at No. 10 UC Irvine at 1:00 p.m. at the Anteater Aquatics Complex.
No. 4 UCLA atย No. 2ย USCย (Mountain Pacific Invitational - Finals)
| SCOREBOARD | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | F |
| No. 4 UCLA | 2 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 13 |
| No.ย 2 USC | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 11 |
6x5 -ย UCLA - 8/10 - USC - 6/13
Penalties -ย UCLA - 0/0 - USC- 0/1
UCLAย Saves:ย Alex Wolf 10
USC Goals:ย Grant Steinย 3, Zach D'Saย 2, Blake Edwards 1, Bryce Hoermanย 1, Mihajloย Milicevicย 1, Marin Dasic 1, Lachlanย Edwards 1, Marko Vavic 1
USC Saves:ย McQuin Baron 9
Players Mentioned
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