UCLA men’s water polo closes out its regular season on Saturday at 1 p.m. PT, when crosstown rival USC visits Spieker Aquatics Center for an MPSF showdown between top-four teams. Each squad is coming off a top-10 win, with the Bruins (18-3, 2-3 MPSF) most recently beating UC San Diego behind a record 12 goals from junior attacker Ryder Dodd, and the Trojans (15-5, 1-4) notching a 13-8 road win against UC Santa Barbara. This is UCLA men’s water polo’s only ticketed game of the season (LINK). It is also the Bruins’ Senior Day, which will be celebrated postgame.

SCHEDULE AT A GLANCE
Opponent: No. 4 USC
Venue: Spieker Aquatics Center
Date: Saturday, Nov. 14
Time: 1 p.m. PT
Tickets: https://ucla.evenue.net/events/WP
Watch ($): https://bit.ly/4887idE
Live Stats: https://bit.ly/4sQPhtK

SERIES HISTORY
Series vs. USC: UCLA leads 104-94-1
Most Recent vs. USC: UCLA won 15-9 on Oct. 17

SENIOR DAY
Eleven UCLA seniors and fifth years will be honored after Saturday’s game. The seniors participating are utility Ben Liechty (Newport Beach, Calif.), defender Max Matthews (Tiburon, Calif.), attacker Wade Sherlock (Long Beach, Calif.), center Marcell Szécsi (Budapest, Hungary) and goalkeeper Nate Tauscher (Sunset Beach, Calif.). Attacker Frederico Jucá Carsalade (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil), utility Ben Larsen (Lafayette, Calif.), attacker Chase McFarland (Berkeley, Calif.), attacker Vinnie Merk (Huntington Beach, Calif.), defender Jack Merrill (Old Greenwich, Conn.) and goalkeeper Griffen Price (San Carlos, Calif.) comprise the fifth years playing in their final home game.

DODD’S DOZEN
Ryder Dodd shattered the UCLA and MPSF single-game goals records with 12 in a 19-9 victory against No. 7 UC San Diego on Nov. 7 at Spieker Aquatics Center. Of his dozen goals, 10 came without a miss during the second half.  Dodd made 12 of 14 attempts overall and tacked on a fourth-quarter assist. Prior to his historic performance, there was no known occurrence of a Bruin scoring more than eight goals in a game (Dodd was one of three). A pair of MPSF East players had 10-goal games in 2024. The MPSF West record was nine, accomplished by Stanford’s Bret Bonanni in 2015. Dodd now leads all MPSF West players with 61 goals on the year. He was named MPSF West/Delfina Player of the Week on Monday and UCLA Student-Athlete of the Week presented by Champion of Westwood on Wednesday.

MORE FROM THE UC SAN DIEGO GAME …
The Bruins never trailed, but UC San Diego stayed within two goals throughout the first half. Dodd’s four consecutive third-quarter strikes broke the game open and he added six more during a nine-goal UCLA fourth quarter. Bruins Flynn Guenther (career-high two), Jack Merrill (two), Bode Brinkema, Ben Liechty and Frederico Jucá Carsalade also found the back of the net. UCLA goalkeeper Griffen Price had 11 saves.

BRUINS IN THE RANKINGS (Week 11 rankings will be released on Wednesday afternoon)
UCLA dropped to No. 3 in the CWPA Varsity Top 20 after Week 10, it was announced Wednesday. The Bruins earned 90 voting points. Making its 2026 debut atop the rankings was California (98), with Stanford close behind (97). Rounding out the top five were No. 4 USC (85) and No. 5 Fordham (81). UCLA started the season at No. 1, remained there through Week 5 and regained the spot after both Week 8 and Week 9. For the full Week 10 rankings, click HERE.

LEAGUE LEADERS
Through 21 games, Ryder Dodd and Ben Liechty are pacing the MPSF in scoring. Dodd’s record 12-goal game against No. 7 UC San Diego (Nov. 7) propelled him into the top spot for the category among MPSF West players, with 61. His 102 points lead the MPSF. Liechty’s 54 assists are tied for first on the league leaderboard. Dodd scored the MPSF’s most goals in 2024 and 2025, while Liechty was the assists leader in 2025.

IN THE CAGE
Three goalkeepers have played significant minutes for UCLA in 2026, led by returning starter Nate Tauscher. The senior from Sunset Beach, Calif. has averaged 10.65 saves per game when accounting for number of quarters played. He turned away a career-high 18 shots in the Bruins’ 16-11 win against No. 4 Fordham (Sept. 25). In Harper Gardner’s first career action, he has gone 5-0 and registered a team-best goals-against average of 8.34. He logged a career-high 12 saves in UCLA’s 14-10 victory at No. 6 UC Davis (Sept. 5). Finally, Stanford transfer Griffen Price turned in a stellar performance at No. 3 USC on Oct. 17. The Bruins won 15-9 behind Price’s 12 saves, which included two penalty stops. He has stopped 11 or more shots in each of the past four contests.

WEEKLY HONORS
Dodd Named UCLA Student-Athlete of the Week - Nov. 11
Dodd Named MPSF Player of the Week After Historic Performance – Nov. 9
Gladović Collects Third MPSF Newcomer of the Week Award – Oct. 19
Dodd Named MPSF Player of the Week – Oct. 5
Tauscher, Gladović MPSF Weekly Awards – Sept. 28
Gladović Named MPSF Newcomer of the Week – Sept. 21

DODD, LIECHTY NAMED TO CUTINO WATCH LIST
Bruins Ryder Dodd and Ben Liechty were named to the 20-player Peter J. Cutino Award Watch List on Sept. 28, it was announced by USA Water Polo and The Olympic Club. Named in honor of the late Hall of Fame coach, the award recognizes the best player in men's and women's college water polo. Dodd won the Cutino Award to finish each of his first two seasons. Bruins Nicolas Saveljic (2020), Garrett Danner (2015) and Sean Kern (1999, 2000) have also been selected winners. Since the inaugural award was handed out in 1999, just two players have won it more than twice: Nikolaos Papanikolaou of California (2021-23) and Tony Azevedo of Stanford (2001-04). Dodd paces UCLA with 102 points, scoring a team-high 61 goals and dishing out 41 assists (second among Bruins). He also leads UCLA with 20 sprint wins and is second in steals (11), tied for third in earned exclusions (20) and tied for fourth in field blocks (six). Liechty is tied for first in the MPSF with 54 assists and his 30 goals and 84 total points both rank second on the Bruins. This watch list was created in 2022 in an effort to help promote the collegiate game, awareness of the award and the tremendous play of athletes across the country. It was determined through voting by collegiate coaches and is completely independent from the nomination and voting process for the Cutino Award as that honor will acknowledge the full impact of the 2026 season.

RECORD-SETTING SERVICE
During the Bruins’ 11-10 victory at Stanford in the Overnght MPSF Invitational championship game on Sept. 20, senior Ben Liechty set a new UCLA career program record for assists. He passed Daniel McClintick, who tallied 157 from 2012-15. Liechty paced the MPSF with 63 helpers in 2025 and his 54 so far this season are tied for first. Also within striking distance of UCLA career program records are senior Marcell Szécsi with 206 earned exclusions (current record is 221 by Aimone Barabino from 2010-13) and junior Ryder Dodd with 61 goals (290 by Alex Rousseau from 1986-89). Assists and earned exclusions have been tracked since 2009.

OVERNGHT MPSF INVITATIONAL CHAMPIONS
UCLA collected its fourth consecutive Overnght MPSF Invitational championship on Sept. 20 at Stanford’s Avery Aquatic Center. The Bruins won four games in three days, capping their run with a thrilling 11-10 victory against the host and third-ranked Cardinal. Freshman Luka Gladović scored the championship game winner with one second remaining. He registered a team-high nine goals for the tournament. UCLA prevailed by the same 11-10 margin in semifinal-round play against No. 4 California, withstanding a second-half charge. Nate Tauscher logged a combined 20 saves across the final two rounds. UCLA beat Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 23-4 in the opener and added a 16-8 defeat of No. 9 UC San Diego.

BRUINS TOP PRESEASON POLLS
UCLA entered 2026 ranked No. 1 in the CWPA Varsity Top 20. The Bruins also topped the MPSF Preseason Coaches’ Poll. USC, Stanford and California rounded out the top four on each list. The Bruins received eight of 11 first-place votes in the MPSF poll, with USC collecting the other three. UCLA won the league’s regular-season title in 2025, with USC prevailing in the MPSF Championship Tournament. The Bruins ultimately sat atop the final CWPA rankings as NCAA champions. They held that spot in 10 of 16 installments.

LOOKING BACK ON 2025
UCLA men’s water polo captured its program’s 14^th NCAA championship and No. 125 for the UCLA athletic department in 2025, capping the run with an instant classic against top-seeded USC at Stanford’s Avery Aquatic Center. The Bruins defeated their crosstown rival, which won the MPSF Championship Tournament 14 days earlier, in an 11-10 result sealed by Most Outstanding Player Frederico Jucá Carsalade’s buzzer-beating goal. They finished 27-2 on the year, avenging a pair of losses to the Trojans. It was a record-setting campaign for UCLA, which shattered its program record with 497 goals. Ryder Dodd led the MPSF with 98 of them and repeated as the Peter J. Cutino Award winner and the ACWPC Player of the Year.

BACK FOR MORE
The Bruins return 20 members of their 2025 NCAA championship team, led by four ACWPC All-America honorees. Junior attacker Ryder Dodd, who has twice swept the national player-of-the-year awards while scoring 200 career goals (98 in 2025), leads the way. Joining him is fifth-year attacker Frederico Jucá Carsalade, the reigning NCAA Championship Most Outstanding Player who piled up 35 goals, 37 assists and 36 steals in 2025. The league leaders in earned exclusions, junior utility Peter Castillo (76), and assists, senior utility Ben Liechty (63), also return. UCLA, which found the back a program-record 497 times in 2025, brings back seven of its top eight goal scorers.

DECORATED DODD
Ryder Dodd was named the 2026 Peter J. Cutino Award winner during a ceremony on June 6 at The Olympic Club in San Francisco. The Cutino Award is presented annually to the best collegiate men's player and the best collegiate women's player. Dodd earned the honor over fellow finalists Robert López Duart and Mihailo Vukazic, both of USC. Dodd, who also won the Cutino Award in 2024, became the first Bruin to repeat as winner since Sean Kern collected the first two in 1999 and 2000. Nicolas Saveljic (2020) and Garrett Danner (2015) have also been bestowed the prestigious honor following standout seasons at UCLA. A Long Beach, Calif. native, Dodd has swept college water polo's player-of-the-year awards twice. He was previously named ACWPC Player of the Year, a national honor, and MPSF Player of the Year to recognize his stellar 2025 campaign. Dodd was also tabbed a first-team ACWPC All-American for the second time.

WHO’S NEW?
Nine new Bruins – five freshmen and four transfers – join the fold in 2026. Serbian utility Luka Gladović (Belgrade, Serbia/VMŠSS “Milutin Milankovic”) brings senior national team experience into his first collegiate season. He was Most Valuable Player of the 2023 LEN European U17 Championships. Attacker Connor Colman (Seal Beach, Calif./JSerra Catholic HS), attacker Flynn Guenther (Redondo Beach, Calif./Mira Costa HS) and utility Tristan Tucker (Moraga, Calif./Miramonte HS) all helped Team USA claim silver at the 2026 World Aquatics U18 Championships. Utility Andrew Wallace (Tiburon, Calif./Tamalpais HS) rounds out the quintet. UC Santa Barbara transfer attacker Danilo Dragović (Budva, Montenegro/JU SMŠ “Danilo Kis”) logged a Big West-best 83 total points in 2025 and received ACWPC All-America honorable mention the year prior as a freshman. Also coming in is a trio of Stanford transfers: attacker Chase McFarland (Berkeley, Calif./Berkeley HS), defender Jack Merrill (Old Greenwich, Conn./Rye Country Day School) and goalkeeper Griffen Price (San Carlos, Calif./Sacred Heart Preparatory). McFarland totaled 52 goals in three seasons of action with the Cardinal, while Merrill scored 25 in two. Price stopped 176 shots across 28 games in the cage.

LENDING A HAND
Adam Wright completed his coaching staff on Aug. 17 with the hirings of assistant coach Jake Liechty and assistant coach/technical coordinator Kyle Boal. Assistant coach Nico Tierney remains from the 2025 NCAA championship-winning team. Liechty joins the Bruins following seven seasons at UC Irvine, including the final two as an assistant coach. He helped guide his alma mater to a combined 33-21 record on the pool deck. Liechty added USA Water Polo to his coaching résumé in 2026, helped the U18 team win silver at the 2026 World Aquatics Championships. Boal moves to the bench from his role of director of operations, which he held for UCLA’s men’s and women’s water polo programs following his graduation from the school in 2023. In addition to handling day-to-day logistics, he played direct parts in travel, scheduling, budgeting and equipment. UCLA water polo’s external reach factored into Boal’s duties, as well, through fundraising, social media and NIL coordination. He also oversaw the hiring, training and development of student managers.

THE WRIGHT STUFF
Already a member of both the UCLA Athletic Hall of Fame and the USA Water Polo Hall of Fame, head coach Adam Wright added to his lengthy résumé in 2025. The UCLA’s men’s water polo program captured its second NCAA championship in as many years, beating crosstown rival USC in an 11-10 thriller, and sixth with Wright at the helm. He has now helped collect 11 total NCAA water polo titles for his alma mater: six as the men’s head coach (2014, 2015 2017, 2020, 2024 and 2025), three as a men’s player (1996, 1999 and 2000), one as the women’s head coach (2024) and one as a women’s assistant coach (2009). Wright in 2025 also earned his fifth MPSF Coach of the Year honor — and third in a row — as well as his fifth ACWPC National Coach of the Year selection. He boasts a 415-73 (79-29 in MPSF play) record in his 18^th season on the men’s side and was 172-42 (36-13) over eight with the women.