UCLA
California
No. 2 UCLA Advances to SoCal Title Game with Two Wins
September 28, 2019 | Men's Water Polo
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UCLA led 3-2 at the end of the first period after getting goals from sophomore Jake Cavano (5:23), freshman Jack White (4:13, power play) and junior Felix Brozyna-Vilim (3:24, power play).
The Bruins won the second period 4-2 to build a 7-4 lead by the break. Freshman Tommy Gruwell got in the scoring column with a goal (4:15) before Brozyna-Vilim netted his second of the contest (1:35, power play). Cavano then scored back-to-back power play goals to complete his hat trick (0:36 and 0:10).
California won the third quarter, 3-2, to trim the Bruins lead to 9-7 heading into the fourth. Sophomore Bailey Jarvis scored a goal at full strength (3:44) and Cavano added his fourth goal of the game on a power play (2:29).
Nikos Papanikolaou scored the opening goal of the fourth period (7:46) to cut the Bruins advantage to 9-8. But three straight goals by the Bruins put the game out of reach. Sophomore Ashworth Molthen scored back-to-back goals at even strength (7:16 and 4:32) and junior Nicolas Saveljic converted a penalty shot (3:30) to push the lead to 12-8. Papanikolaou scored a goal at full strength with 3:07 remaining to provide the 12-9 final.
No. 7 California at No. 2 UCLA (SoCal Invitational - Quarterfinals)
| SCOREBOARD | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | FINAL |
| No. 7 California | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 9 |
| No. 2 UCLA | 3 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 12 |
6x5 - UCLA - 6/15 - CAL - 5/13
Penalties - UCLA - 1/1 - CAL - 0/1
CAL Goals: Nikos Papanikolaou 4, Jack Deely 2, Safak Simsek 1, Marko Valecic 1, David Feingold 1
CAL Saves: Adrian Weinberg 5
UCLA Goals: Jake Cavano 4, Ashworth Molthen 2, Felix Brozyna-Vilim 2, Jack White 1, Bailey Jarvis 1, Nicolas Saveljic 1, Tommy Gruwell 1
UCLA Saves: Alex Wolf 9
No. 2 UCLA (9-0) won the battle of the top two undefeated teams in the country, putting an end to UC Santa Barbara's 15-game winning streak with a 9-8 victory in the semifinals of the 2019 SoCal Invitational on Saturday afternoon at Spieker Aquatics Center. The Bruins continued their dominance, improving to 104-17-1 all-time against the Gauchos, which dropped to 15-1 on the year.
UCLA led 3-2 at the end of the first period on the strength of two goals by freshman Andy Rodgers (5:00 and 0:37) and one by freshman Tommy Gruwell (1:48).
The Bruins extended the lead to 4-2 when sophomore Jake Cavano found the back of the net on a power play (7:21) to open the scoring in the second period. After a goal by the Gauchos, UCLA enjoyed its last two-goal lead at 5-3 on a power play goal by sophomore Ashworth Molthen (4:14). UCSB tied the game with back-to-back goals (2:26 and 1:19). But Molthen came to the rescue and scored his second of the game with just two seconds left in the period, giving UCLA a 6-5 lead at halftime.
The two teams traded goals for the rest of the game. UCSB's Jacob Halle tied it at 6-6 (6:14) in the third period, but sophomore Matthew Kacura answered with his first goal of the game (5:48). Connor Moynihan then tied it at 7-7 (4:48) with a power play goal, but again Kacura had the answer with a goal at set (2:40) to end the third period scoring with the Bruins leading 8-7.
Leo Yuno opened the scoring in the final period to tie it at 8-8 with a goal from the front court (4:39). Molthen would score the game-winning goal with 0:45 remaining as Kacura recorded the game-sealing steal on defense, ensuring a 9-8 victory for the Bruins.
The Bruins will face third-ranked Stanford in the title game on Sunday, Sept. 29 at 1:00 p.m. PT.
No. 1 UC Santa Barbara at No. 2 UCLA (SoCal Invitational - Semifinals)
| SCOREBOARD | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | FINAL |
| No. 1 UCSB | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 8 |
| No. 2 UCLA | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 9 |
6x5 - UCLA - 3/7 - UCSB - 2/3
Penalties - UCLA - 0/1 - UCSB - 0/1
UCSB Goals: Sam Nangle 2, Cole Brosnan 1, Jacob Halle 1, Mason McQuet 1, Connor Moynihan 1, Nathan Puentes 1, Leo Yuno 1
UCSB Saves: Danny Roland 5
UCLA Goals: Ashworth Molthen 3, Andy Rodgers 2, Matthew Kacura 2, Jake Cavano 1, Tommy Gruwell 1
UCLA Saves: Alex Wolf 13
