No. 2 UCLA is at No. 7 UC Santa Barbara Thursday

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LOS ANGELES – No. 2 UCLA (8-0) travels to No. 7 UC Santa Barbara (7-1) to face the Gauchos on Thursday, Sept. 13 at 7:00 p.m. PT at UCSB's Campus Pool. The Bruins will then return home to host two local schools on Saturday, Sept. 15. The Bruins will begin a very busy day at Noon when they take on No. 10 Pepperdine (6-2) and then face Loyola Marymount (2-4) at 2:00 p.m. PT. UCLA will conclude the day with its annual Alumni Match at 3:30 p.m. PT.

Thursday, Sept. 13

7:00 p.m. PT

No. 2 UCLA at No. 7 UC Santa Barbara

Saturday, Sept. 15

12:00 p.m. PT	No. 10 Pepperdine at No. 2 UCLA
2:00 p.m. PT	(RV) Loyola Marymount at No. 2 UCLA
3:30 p.m. PT	Alumni Match

Recapping Last Week
Then No. 1 UCLA improved to 8-0 on the year by going 5-0 at the Princeton Invitation (Sept. 7-9). UCLA opened with a 21-6 win over Wagner (Sept. 7) with sophomore Nicolas Saveljic leading the Bruins in scoring with a career-high-tying four goals. Then in a 15-3 win over St. Francis Brooklyn (Sept. 8), the Bruins were led by six players that scored two goals apiece. Those scorers included sophomore Quinten Osborne, freshman Ashworth Molthen, redshirt juniors Eric Goldenberg and Raphael Raede, and seniors Kent Inoue and Austin Rone. The Bruins completed day two with a 16-6 win over Air Force (Sept. 8) with Saveljic again leading the team with a hat trick. The Bruins began the final day of competition with a 16-9 win over No. 17 Brown (Sept. 9) with Molthen leading the team in scoring with a hat trick. Saveljic would later equal his career-high with four scores in a 17-5 win at No. 13 Princeton (Sept. 9) to conclude play in the tournament.

Last Week's GOATs
Sophomore Nicolas Saveljic led the Bruins in scoring with 13 goals in the five games of the Princeton Invitational (Sept. 7-9). Sophomore Quinten Osborne recorded 10 goals, including a hat trick at No. 13 Princeton. Freshman Ashworth Molthen also scored 10 goals which included a team-high three goals in the win over No. 17 Brown. Redshirt freshman Peter Lovas scored seven goals in the five games, including three games with two scores. Senior Kent Inoue scored a total of eight goals in the tournament and scored at least one goal in four of the five outings, including a hat trick in the win over Wagner (Sept. 7). Freshman Danny Roland recorded a season-high 13 saves in the win over Air Force (Sept. 8).

Who is Back?
UCLA returns four starters but just two All-Americans for the 2018 season. Redshirt junior goalkeeper and 2017 NCAA Championship MVP Alex Wolf returns as does the Bruins' leading scorer from a year ago, sophomore Nicolas Saveljic (45 goals, 4^th in the MPSF). Both Wolf and Saveljic were second team All-Americans and earned honorable mention All-MPSF honors in 2017.

The Bruins also return two other starters in sophomore attacker Chasen Travisano (26 goals, 5^th on team in scoring, 23rd in MPSF) and sophomore utility Evan Rosenfeld (nine goals, 13 starts). Senior attacker Austin Rone also returns (12 goals, 7^th on team in scoring, 12 starts) as does sophomore center Quinten Osborne (10 goals, 8^th on team, seven starts).

Also returning in 2018 and looking to contribute is senior attacker Kent Inoue (nine goals), senior defender Warren Snyder (seven goals), junior attacker James Vlachonassios (five goals), sophomore attacker Luke Henriksson (seven goals), senior attacker David Stiling (seven goals), sophomore utility Felix Brozyna-Vilim (seven goals), junior center Raphael Raede (six goals) and junior attacker Eric Goldenberg (eight goals).

Who was Waiting?
UCLA returns several redshirts that were waiting in the wings a year ago. The redshirts included Bailey Jarvis (6-4, DEF, Walnut Creek, Calif./Las Lomas HS) and Peter Lovas (6-3, ATK, Budapest, Hungary/Csik Ferenc Secondary Grammar School/Golden West College).

Who has Arrived?
UCLA head men's water polo coach Adam Wright assembled a stellar class for 2018, Arriving in Westwood this season and looking to make an immediate impact is Matthew Kacura (6-2, ATK, San Clemente, Calif./Orange Lutheran HS), Ashworth Molthen (6-3, ATK, Buena Park, Calif./Orange Lutheran HS), Jake Cavano (6-4, ATK, Fountain Valley, Calif./Huntington Beach HS), Michael Graner (6-0, ATK, El Segundo, Calif./Loyola HS), Danny Roland (6-3, GK, San Rafael, Calif./Sir Francis Drake HS) and Morio Saito (5-10, ATK, Los Angeles, Calif./Harvard-Westlake/Santa Monica College).

Who is Gone?
UCLA lost a pair of first team All-Americans in attacker Max Irving (40 goals, 20 starts) and utility Alex Roelse (35 goals, six starts). The Bruins will also need to replace second team All-American center Matt Farmer (29 goals, 12 starts) and honorable mention All-American attacker Jack Grover (13 goals, 18 starts).

Coaching Changes
During the offseason, UCLA men's water polo hired three-time NCAA Champion and Bruin standout Jack Grover to the post of assistant coach (replacing Ryder Roberts) and has added U.S. Olympian and former UCLA All-American Alex Roelse as an undergraduate assistant coach. These changes are following the 2017 promotion of Jason Falitz to associate head coach.

Wright on Deck
Adam Wright is in his 10th season as UCLA's head men's water polo coach in 2018 with an overall record of 235-37 (.864) and an MPSF mark of 51-12 (.810). His teams earned perfect APR (Academic Progress Rate) scores of 1,000 in 2014, 2015 and 2016 while winning the school's 112th, 113th and 114th NCAA Championships in 2014, 2015 and 2017. On July 20, 2017, UCLA Director of Athletics, Dan Guerrero, announced that Wright will guide both the UCLA men's and women's water polo teams.

Recapping 2017
Overall Record: 21-4 | Final Ranking: 1st | NCAA Finish: 1st | MPSF Tournament Finish: 2nd

The Bruins finished the 2017 season by winning the program's 11^th NCAA Championship and the school's 114^th overall with a 7-5 victory at USC. UCLA finished the year with a 21-4 record, culminating in its third NCAA title in the last four years. Adam Wright was named MPSF and ACWPC National Coach of the Year. Six Bruins were named All-Americans with seniors Alex Roelse and Max Irving being named to the first team. Redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Alex Wolf was named to the second team after being selected as the NCAA Tournament MVP. Also chosen as a second team All-American was the Bruins' leading scorer, freshman Nicolas Saveljic.

Bruins Picked to Finish First in the MPSF
Defending national champion UCLA placed on top of the 2018 MPSF Men's Water Polo Preseason Coaches' Poll, collecting the maximum possible totals of 25 points and five first-place votes. The Bruins, who have captured three of the last four NCAA titles, welcome back four starters and a pair of Second Team All-Americans from last year's 21-4 team. Junior goalkeeper and 2017 NCAA Championship MVP Alex Wolf returns as does sophomore team leading scorer Nicolas Saveljic (45 goals, MPSF 4th). Coming off an MPSF Championship and a 13th-straight NCAA Final appearance, USC finished second in the poll with 21 points and the remaining first-place vote. Only one true senior is on the Trojan roster this year in Zach D'Sa, who scored a career-best 26 goals for last year's 27-4 squad. USC also returns All-Americans Matt Maier and Marko Vavic, as well as Olympian Thomas Dunstan. Vavic was one of three players in the MPSF last year to put away at least 50 goals. California placed third in the poll with 16 points. The Bears return two of the nation's most prolific scorers from last year's NCAA Semifinal team in senior First Team All-American Johnny Hooper (47 goals) and senior Second-Team All-American Odysseas Masmanidis (40 goals). Olympians Hooper and Masmanidis both finished 2017 in the MPSF's top-six in scoring average. Stanford took fourth in the poll with 14 points. Led by First Team All-American and MPSF Newcomer of the Year Ben Hallock (54 goals, MPSF 2nd) and two-time All-American Blake Parrish (36 goals), the Cardinal welcomes back its top two scorers from last year's top-seeded MPSF Tournament team. Penn State Behrend had nine points to place fifth. Kyle Frerichs (20 goals), Isaak Hatopp (14 goals), and goalkeeper Matt Olimski (246 saves) are amongst the top returnees. The Lions will make their third appearance in the MPSF Championship Tournament. Austin College rounds out the preseason poll, transitioning from club status to its first-ever season on the NCAA level. Sophomores Andrew Pomier (GK) and Robert Griffin are projected as key starters after club level success. As with Penn State Behrend, the Kangaroos will not partake in the MPSF's regular season, but will compete in the postseason conference tournament.

2018 MPSF Coaches' Preseason Poll

Team	Points (1st Place)	2017 Record	2017 MPSF Tourney	2017 NCAA Finish
UCLA	25 (5)	21-4	2nd	Champions
USC	21 (1)	27-4	1st	2nd
California	16	20-4	3rd	T-3rd
Stanford	14	19-5	4th	n/a
Penn State Behrend	9	6-15	5th	n/a
Austin College	5	First Year	First Year	First Year

UCLA In The CWPA Poll
The Bruins, who claimed the 2017 NCAA Championship, lost another point this week to fall into second place in the Week 2 CWPA National Men's Varsity Top 20 Poll (97 points), released on Sept. 12, snapping the Bruins' consecutive streak of five polls at No. 1 (dates back to Week 12 of the 2017 poll on Nov. 22).

2018 MEN'S VARSITY TOP 20 (Week 2 - Sept. 12)
Rank	Team	2018 Preseason Poll	Points
1 (T)	USC	1 (T)	98
2	UCLA	1 (T)	97
3	California	3	90
4	Stanford	4	85
5	Pacific	5	81
6	Long Beach State	6	72
7	UC Santa Barbara	7	70
8	UC Davis	11	60
9	Harvard	9	58
10	Pepperdine	8	55
11	UC San Diego	12	53
12	UC Irvine	10	43
13	Princeton	13	38
14	Bucknell	14	30
15	George Washington	18	29
16	Pomona-Pitzer	19	28
17	San Jose State	15	18
18	Cal Baptist	16	12
18	Brown	17	12
20	Santa Clara	NR	9
RV	Loyola Marymount	20	8
RV	Wagner	RV	4
RV	Navy	NR	3

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No. 2 UCLA is at No. 7 UC Santa Barbara Thursday

2018 MEN'S VARSITY TOP 20 (Week 2 - Sept. 12)

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Felix Brozyna-Vilim

Jake Cavano

Matt Farmer

Eric Goldenberg

Michael Graner

Jack Grover

Luke Henriksson

Kent Inoue

Max Irving

Bailey Jarvis

Matthew Kacura

Peter Lovas

Ashworth Molthen

Quinten Osborne

Raphael Raede

Ryder Roberts

Alex Roelse

Danny Roland

Austin Rone

Evan Rosenfeld

Morio Saito

Nicolas Saveljic

Warren Snyder

David Stiling

Chasen Travisano

James Vlachonassios

Alex Wolf

University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics

No. 2 UCLA is at No. 7 UC Santa Barbara Thursday

2018 MEN'S VARSITY TOP 20 (Week 2 - Sept. 12)

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Felix Brozyna-Vilim

Jake Cavano

Matt Farmer

Eric Goldenberg

Michael Graner

Jack Grover

Luke Henriksson

Kent Inoue

Max Irving

Bailey Jarvis

Matthew Kacura

Peter Lovas

Ashworth Molthen

Quinten Osborne

Raphael Raede

Ryder Roberts

Alex Roelse

Danny Roland

Austin Rone

Evan Rosenfeld

Morio Saito

Nicolas Saveljic

Warren Snyder

David Stiling

Chasen Travisano

James Vlachonassios

Alex Wolf

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