LOS ANGELES – No. 1 UCLA men’s water polo beat No. 4 Fordham 16-11 in a clash of unbeatens Friday evening at Spieker Aquatics Center. UCLA jumped out to an 8-1 lead in the second quarter and never let Fordham get closer than four goals after that point.
Nate Tauscher recorded a career-high 18 saves for the Bruins, who improved to 13-0. Ryder Dodd led seven UCLA goal scorers with four conversions. Bruins Luka Gladović and Ben Liechty added three goals each. The Rams, who fell to 9-1, were paced by Andras Toth’s six goals. Viktor Savic turned away five shots for Fordham.
Ben Larsen bookended UCLA’s four-goal first quarter. His second came with time expiring and the Bruins working out of a seven-on-six formation. Dodd started off the next frame by taking advantage of a six-on-five chance, capping a five-goal UCLA run to start matters. Diego Tresa put Fordham on the scoreboard at 6:48, but Marcell Szécsi, Liechty and Max Matthews needed just 1:15 to pile up three more for the Bruins. The Rams reeled off three of their own before the break, but still trailed 8-4.
The teams alternated four third-quarter goals, keeping the margin at four. Dodd made a penalty shot to cap the initial possession and Liechty’s goal put UCLA in double figures. The fourth quarter saw a flurry of goals tallied, kicked off by Gladović’s second and third of the game. Toth scored three of Fordham’s five goals in the frame, but the Bruins continued to provide answers. Dodd recorded two more for his team-high third four-goal game of the year. Bode Brinkema completed his two-goal performance and Liechty finished off his hat trick.
The Bruins play again Saturday, heading up the coast to take on No. 13 Pepperdine. Opening sprint from Raleigh Runnels Memorial Pool is set for 1 p.m. PT.
No. 1 UCLA 16, No. 4 Fordham 11
|
SCOREBOARD |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
FINAL |
|
No. 4 Fordham |
0 |
4 |
2 |
5 |
11 |
|
No. 1 UCLA |
4 |
4 |
2 |
6 |
16 |
6x5: Fordham 2/6, UCLA 5/11
Penalties: Fordham 1/1, UCLA 2/2
Fordham Goals: Toth 6, Dragosevic 1, Kojic 1, Strasser 1, Tresa 1, Veklyuk 1
Fordham Saves: Savic 5
UCLA Goals: Dodd 4, Gladović 3, Liechty 3, Brinkema 2, Larsen 2, Matthews 1, Szécsi 1
UCLA Saves: Tauscher 18