LOS ANGELES – No. 2 UCLA men’s water polo rolled to a 15-9 victory against No. 3 USC Saturday afternoon at Uytengsu Aquatics Center. The Bruins never trailed in the MPSF contest and were tied just twice in the early goings.
Ryder Dodd recorded four goals to lead UCLA (17-1, 2-1 MPSF). Nine Bruins in all scored. Making just his fourth start of the season, Griffen Price logged 14 saves for the Bruins. Luke Nelson’s four goals led the Trojans (13-3, 1-2), who got nine saves in the cage from Charles Mills. USC celebrated five seniors prior to the game.
UCLA raced out to a 6-2 lead after one quarter. Each side scored twice before the Bruins went on a run to close it out. The trio of Dodd, Peter Castillo and Luka Gladović handled all goal scoring for UCLA in the opening frame, as each found twine twice. Gladović converted a penalty shot, while USC was turned away by Price on its attempt. Price finished the day with two stops of Trojan five-meter tries.
An early second-quarter strike by USC was answered on a power play by the Bruins’ Ben Larsen. Back-to-back Nelson efforts gave the Trojans life, cutting their deficit to two. Frederico Jucá Carsalade and Marcell Szécsi – the latter a buzzer beater – helped reestablished a four-goal cushion for UCLA at halftime, though.
The Bruins’ Bode Brinkema broke an early-third-quarter spell for both offenses, scoring at 4:54 to double USC’s overall output. Nelson scored twice more for the Trojans, but Wade Sherlock and Dodd each had an answer. UCLA led 12-7 after three.
The margin reached a game-high seven goals twice in the fourth quarter. Vinnie Merk and Dodd opened the final eight minutes with Bruin strikes and Larsen later added another.
UCLA will have two weeks off before its next outing, a Saturday, Oct. 31 visit to No. 4 California. That will be followed the next day by a road matchup with No. 1 Stanford. Each game begins at 1 p.m. PT.
No. 2 UCLA 15, No. 3 USC 9
|
SCOREBOARD |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
FINAL |
|
No. 2 UCLA |
6 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
15 |
|
No. 3 USC |
2 |
3 |
2 |
2 |
9 |
6x5: UCLA 4/8, USC 3/10
Penalties: UCLA 1/1, USC 0/2
UCLA Goals: Dodd 4, Castillo 2, Gladović 2, Larsen 2, Brinkema 1, Jucá Carsalade 1, Merk 1, Sherlock 1, Szécsi 1
UCLA Saves: Price 14
USC Goals: Nelson 4, Bettino 1, Krstic 1, L ópez Duart 1, Mirisch 1, Naipoglu 1
USC Saves: Mills 9