Friday, November 17
Berkeley, CA
9:30 AM

UCLA

24-0

25
vs
4

Washington & Jefferson College

6-16

1
2
3
4
OT
OT
F
Washington & Jefferson (M)
0
3
1
0
0
0
4
UCLA (M)
6
6
7
6
0
0
25
UCLA Athletics - 2023 UCLA Men's Water Polo versus the UC Irvine Anteaters.  Spieker Aquatic Center, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA.
November 3rd, 2023
Copyright Don Liebig/ASUCLA
231103_MWP_250.NEF
Redshirt sophomore Grant Loth scored a career-high six goals in the win over the Presidents.
Photo by: Don Liebig/ASUCLA

No. 1 UCLA Advances to MPSF Semifinals with Dominant Win

November 17, 2023 | Men's Water Polo

BERKELEY, Calif. -- No. 1 UCLA (24-0) scored the first nine goals of the game and cruised to a 25-4 victory over eighth-seeded Washington & Jefferson (6-16) in the quarterfinals of the 2023 MPSF Championship on Friday morning at California's Spieker Aquatics Complex. The Bruins improved to 2-0 all-time against the Presidents.

The Bruins had a season-high 14 players score in the contest, led by a career-high six goals from redshirt sophomore Grant Loth. Freshmen Ben Liechty and Wade Sherlock each scored a hat trick while redshirt freshman Frederico Jucá Carsalade added two scores.

Senior Bernardo Maurizi got the start in the cage and went the distance, tallying a season-high 17 saves and three assists while surrendering four goals.

The Bruins won the first period, 6-0. Jucá Carsalade opened the scoring (7:41) and senior Jack Larsen scored on a counter (5:42) to put the Bruins up 2-0. Senior Rafael Real Vergara scored a power play goal (5:05) and then sophomore Noah Rowe scored on a strike from the front court (3:41) to make it 4-0. Ben Liechty netted his first on a counter (2:15) and Loth scored his first from two meters (1:37) to end the scoring in the first period.

The Bruins won the second period, 6-3, to take a 12-3 lead into the break. Redshirt freshman Ben Larsen opened the scoring in the second period (7:46) with a goal from the front court to put UCLA up 7-0. Ben Liechty followed with his second score on a counter (6:47) and Jucá Carsalade added another counter goal (5:13) to push the lead to 9-0. After a goal by the Presidents (4:50), Loth scored his second from two meters (4:30) to make it 10-1. Another goal by W&J (4:12) was answered by a third goal from Loth at set (2:25) to put the Bruins up 11-2. The Presidents scored a third goal in the period (0:51) that was immediately answered by redshirt freshman Vinnie Merk's first score of the game (0:35) to end the scoring in the second quarter with UCLA up 12-3.

UCLA won the third period, 7-1, to build a 19-4 lead heading into the final stanza. Ben Liechty completed his hat trick on a third counter goal (7:07) and then freshman Marcell Szácsi netted his first (5:20) to put UCLA up 14-3. Sherlock then scored back-to-back goals (3:52 and 2:52) to push the lead to 16-3. After a score from the Presidents (2:33), the Bruins scored three to end the quarter. Redshirt junior Maximo Rossi scored (2:06) his first, Loth knotched his fourth (1:29) and senior Hayden Nightingale scored his first (0:29) to make it 19-4.

The Bruins won the fourth quarter, 6-0, to provide the 25-4 final. Senior Giorgio Alessandria scored his first of the game to open the scoring in the fourth (7:32). Redshirt sophomore Eli Liechty scored his first goal (5:10) to push the lead to 21-4. Sherlock then completed his hat trick (2:47) to make it 22-4. Loth then scored his fifth and sixth goals of the game (2:05 and 1:21) to extend the lead to 24-4. UCLA ended the game the way it began, on a 9-0 scoring run, after Rossi netted his second of the game (0:28) to end the scoring.

UP NEXT: The Bruins now face No. 3 USC in the first semifinal of the 2023 MPSF Championship on Saturday, Nov. 18 at 1:00 p.m. at California's Spieker Aquatics Complex.

No. 1 UCLA vs. Washington & Jefferson (MPSF Championship - Quarterfinals - Game 24)
SCOREBOARD 1 2 3 4 FINAL
Washington & Jefferson 0 3 1 0 4
No. 1 UCLA 6 6 7 6 25
6x5 - UCLA - 1/3 - W&J - 0/0
Penalties - UCLA - 0/2 - W&J - 0/0

W&J Goals: Mitchell Rubio 2, AJ Alderman 1, Aidan Johnson 1
W&J Saves: Zishuo Ma 6

UCLA Goals: Grant Loth 6, Wade Sherlock 3, Ben Liechty 3, Frederico Jucá Carsalade 2, Maximo Rossi 2, Eli Liechty 1, Marcell Szécsi 1, Ben Larsen 1, Rafael Real Vergara 1, Jack Larsen 1, Noah Rowe 1, Hayden Nightingale 1, Vinnie Merk 1, Giorgio Alessandria 1
UCLA Saves: Bernardo Maurizi 17
 

Team Stats

WAS
UCL
Shots
35
43
Goals
4
25
Assists
4
21
Points
8
46
Exclusions
3
0
Steals
6
5
Sprints
0
4
1

Frederico Jucá Carsalade

07:41

Jack Larsen

05:42

Rafael Real Vergara

05:05

Noah Rowe

03:41

Ben Liechty

02:15

Grant Loth

01:37

2

Ben Larsen

07:46

Ben Liechty

06:47

Frederico Jucá Carsalade

05:13

Aj Alderman

04:50

Grant Loth

04:30

Mitchell Rubio

04:12

Grant Loth

02:25

Mitchell Rubio

00:51

Vinnie Merk

00:35

3

Ben Liechty

07:07

Marcell Szécsi

05:20

Wade Sherlock

03:52

Wade Sherlock

02:52

Aidan Johnson

02:33

Maximo Rossi

02:06

Grant Loth

01:29

Hayden Nightingale

00:29

4

Giorgio Alessandria

07:32

Eli Liechty

05:10

Wade Sherlock

02:47

Grant Loth

02:05

Grant Loth

01:21

Maximo Rossi

00:28

Game Leaders

Shots
7
Goals
6
Assists
0
Points
6
Shots
5
Goals
3
Assists
1
Points
4
Shots
5
Goals
1
Assists
2
Points
3
Shots
4
Goals
3
Assists
0
Points
3

Players Mentioned

UTL
/ Men's Water Polo
UTL
/ Men's Water Polo
ATK
/ Men's Water Polo
UTL
/ Men's Water Polo
CTR
/ Men's Water Polo
CTR
/ Men's Water Polo
GK
/ Men's Water Polo
ATK
/ Men's Water Polo
ATK
/ Men's Water Polo
ATK
/ Men's Water Polo
UTL
/ Men's Water Polo
ATK
/ Men's Water Polo
ATK
/ Men's Water Polo
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