UCLA Men's Water Polo - NCAA Championships (13)
2024
No. 1 UCLA (26-2) captured its 13th NCAA Championship in men's water polo with an 11-8 win over No. 2 USC (23-6) on Sunday afternoon at Stanford's Avery Aquatic Center. The win also marked the 124th NCAA Championship for the UCLA Athletic Department. The Bruins, who went 4-1 this season against the Trojans, improved to 101-92-1 all-time in the series history. The win also marked the fifth NCAA Championship for UCLA Head Coach Adam Wright while in charge of the Men's Water Polo team, with all five titles coming against USC. It is Wright's ninth NCAA title overall, as he also won two as a player at UCLA (1999 and 2000), one last year with the women's program (2024), and one more as an assistant coach with the women's team in 2009.
2020
The No. 3 UCLA men's water polo team captured its 12th NCAA Championship in men's water polo with a 7-6 win at No. 4 USC on March 21 at USC's Uytengsu Aquatics Center. The win also marked the 119th NCAA Championship for the UCLA Athletic Department. It was a balanced scoring effort by the Bruins, who received goals from six different players. Junior Jake Cavano, who was named to the first team All-NCAA Tournament, scored two goals, including the eventual difference maker with 6:23 left in the game. Sophomore goalkeeper Bernardo Maurizi, who also was named first team All-NCAA Tournament, held the Trojans scoreless throughout the first half and racked up nine saves. UCLA never trailed in the game.
2017
After losing eight seniors in 2015 and another nine in 2016 to graduation, 2017 was supposed to be a rebuilding year for the UCLA men's water polo team. The Bruins, however, exceeded perhaps even their own expectations when they downed rival USC, 7-5 in the NCAA title match on Dec. 3 at USC's Uytengsu Aquatics Center. The win marked the third title in four years for the men's water polo team, which also claimed championships in 2014 and 2015. It was the Bruins' 11th NCAA men's water polo championship and the 114th overall NCAA title for UCLA across all sports. In Sunday's title match, seniors Alex Roelse and Matt Farmer led the Bruins with a game-high two goals each. Max Irving, Quinten Osborne and Alex Wolf also scored goals for UCLA on the day. Wolf played the entire game in the cage for UCLA, registering 10 saves while allowing just five goals, two on Trojan power plays. He was named MVP of the NCAA Championships. Roelse and Irving joined Wolf by earning First-Team All-Tournament honors. Farmer and freshman Nicolas Saveljic were named Second Team All-Tournament. The Bruins finished the year at 21-4 overall.
2015
The top-ranked UCLA Bruins won their second straight NCAA Championship with a 10-7 win over No. 3 USC (22-7) at Dirks Pool at Spieker Aquatics Center on December 6. The Bruins concluded the season at 30-0 on the year, winning their 33rd-straight game, which extends the second-longest winning streak in school history. The all-time record is 50, which was established from 1964-68. This was the first undefeated season for UCLA since the 1969 team went 19-0. It was also the program's 10th title and the school's 113th NCAA Championship, which leads the nation. The undefeated season for the Bruins was just the fourth all-time in NCAA men's water polo history, joining the 2012 and 2008 USC squads and the 1992 California team. Following the event, UCLA's Ryder Roberts was named the 2015 NCAA Men's Water Polo Championship Most Valuable Player.
2014
The No. 1 UCLA men's water polo team brought home its ninth NCAA title and 112th in UCLA history with a 9-8 win over six-time defending champion USC on December 7, 2014 at UCSD's Canyonview Aquatic Center. It marked the Bruins' first NCAA Championship since 2004. Junior Danny McClintick led all scorers with four goals and was named the NCAA Tournament MVP. Sophomores Garrett Danner and Gordon Marshall joined McClintick on the NCAA's All-Tournament First Team. Seniors Cristiano Mirarchi and Paul Reynolds were both named to the Second Team. Sophomore Gordon Marshall notched the game-winner from two meters with 0:34 to go in the match. The Bruins got the stop on the next possession and then ran out the clock. UCLA finished the season with 29 wins, tying the team's single-season record (29-5 in 1988).
2004
The Bruins capped off one of the most remarkable seasons in UCLA water polo history on Sunday by capturing the program's eighth national title in what has already been referred to as one of the most thrilling title games in the history of NCAA water polo. The national champion Bruins finished the 2004 campaign with a remarkable 25-3 record, good for an .893 winning percentage, the best since 1972. UCLA also won the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation regular season title by completing just its third perfect (8-0) conference schedule. UCLA sat atop the national rankings with the number one spot for eight consecutive weeks, beginning on October 6. The 2004 Bruins also did something no other water polo team has done since 1990; they pieced together an 18-match winning streak. Beginning on September 25 with a 6-4 victory over UC Irvine, the then-third-ranked Bruins went on to win the NorCal Tournament the following weekend and would not lose again until the finals of the MPSF tournament on November 28. UCLA definitively demonstrated their place atop the rankings as throughout the course of the season the Bruins defeated the nation's top four teams, California, USC and Stanford, a total of six times in nine matches, including victories at each of those schools. The Bruins will say good-bye to six seniors this year, all of whom started on the 2004 national championship squad. The class, which makes up Krikorian's first recruiting class while alone at the helm of the program, includes goalkeeper Joseph Axelrad, Peter Belden, Albert Garcia, Josh Hewko, Brett Ormsby and Ted Peck.
2000
The Bruins won back-to-back men's water polo titles for the third time, finishing a 19-7 season with an easy 11-2 victory over UC San Diego in the NCAA championship game at Pepperdine University. All five UCLA seniors scored goals in the title-match rout, including Brian Brown, who scored three goals, and Sean Kern, who had two and was also named the tournament MVP. Kern capped his Bruin career by earning player of the year honors for the second consecutive year as well. Brown, Kern and goalie Brandon Brooks were first-team All-America selections.
1999
Freshman goalie Brandon Brooks stopped a two-point attempt in the final seconds, and UCLA held on to beat Stanford 6-5 and win the NCAA men's water polo championship at UC San Diego. The Bruins, who finished the season 22-3, also edged the Cardinal in overtime the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation championship game a week earlier. In the NCAA title match, UCLA overcame a 4-1 first-half deficit with five unanswered goals. Sean Kern scored eight goals in the two games of the Final Four and was named the tournament's MVP. He also was honored as a first-team All-America and was the first recipient of the Peter J. Cutino Award as men's water polo's collegiate player of the year. Matt Armato was a first-team All-America choice and Guy Baker earned national coach of the year honors.
1996
The Bruins upset top-ranked and heavily favored USC 8-7 in the title match at UC San Diego to win their second consecutive NCAA men's water polo championship. Randy Wright's two-point goal a little more than two minutes into the game sparked UCLA to a 6-3 lead after one quarter, and the Bruins held off a Trojan rally to win. The Bruins finished the season at 24-6. Goalie Matt Swanson made 14 saves in the championship match, was named the NCAA tournament MVP and earned his second consecutive player of the year award.
1995
Playing against top-ranked Cal at Stanford's deGuerre Pool in the NCAA Tournament final on Dec. 3, the UCLA men's water polo team posted a 10-8 victory, giving head coach Guy Baker his first national title. The championship game was won in dramatic fashion, as the outcome was decided in the final minute. With the score tied at 8-8, With 1:44 remaining, UCLA's Jeremy Braxton-Brown put the Bruins up 9-8 with his first goal of the game. He would later add an insurance goal with 42 seconds remaining, giving the Bruins the eventual 10-8 victory.
1972
The 1972 Bruins featured five senior starters with a wealth of championship experience, and that group carried UCLA to its second consecutive NCAA men's water polo title, its third in four years. Goalie Kevin Craig earned All-America honors for the fourth consecutive year. Kurt Krumpholz, Eric Lindroth, Bob Neumann and John Rees also earned national acclaim. Bob Horn's squad finished 19-1 and breezed through the NCAA tournament, beating Yale 21-3, UC Irvine 15-10 and San Jose State 10-5.
1971
Eric Lindroth scored three goals against previously undefeated San Jose State in the championship game as UCLA won its second NCAA title in three seasons. Lindroth, Greg Arth, Paul Becskehazy, Kevin Craig and Scott Massey earned All-America honors. Becskehazy led UCLA with 51 goals. The 19-1 Bruins were without their usual home pool at Sunset Canyon, which was closed during the fall for repairs after suffering damage during the Sylmar earthquake.
1969
Freshman Scott Massey's 20-foot goal with three seconds left in the third quarter broke a 2-2 tie and propelled UCLA to a 5-2 victory over California in the first NCAA men's water polo championship game in Long Beach, California. Jim Ferguson and Torrey Webb added fourth-period goals to secure the victory for coach Bob Horn's Bruins, who completed a perfect season at 19-0. UCLA had reached the title game by beating USC and Long Beach State. Gregg Arth, Paul Becskehazy, freshman goalie Kevin Craig, Ferguson and Webb earned All-America honors.