Andrew Mesesan wasn’t fazed by much Saturday night at Spieker Aquatics Center.
The redshirt junior goalkeeper shone in his first career start at home as the UCLA men’s water polo team took down Loyola Marymount, 14-6.
Mesesan was thrust into action for the No. 2 Bruins (5-1) after redshirt sophomore Matt Rapacz, who started UCLA’s first three games, went down because of injury last weekend at the NorCal Tournament.
Mesesan’s presence against No. 10 LMU (6-5) under the lights Saturday was huge for a defense looking to bounce back after a difficult loss to No. 1 USC. He collected six saves and smothered numerous other opportunities for the Lions at the net.
As had been the case through the team’s first five games, there was no shortage of offense for UCLA. Senior Ben Hohl, who scored all four of his goals in the first half, led the scoring, while sophomore Josh Samuels added three of his own. The Bruins have not scored less than 10 goals in any of its games so far this year.
Rapacz watched from the sideline with a sling protecting his left shoulder and will be reevaluated on a week-to-week basis.