The No. 1 UCLA men’s water polo team clinched at least a tie for the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation title this weekend with a 12-8 win over No. 7 Pacific on Saturday.
UCLA (24-2, 7-0) secured the top spot in the conference after beating Stanford at home two weeks ago and is now guaranteed a share of the conference title.
A win over No. 4 Long Beach State or a No. 2 Stanford loss to Pacific next Saturday would clinch an outright win of the conference in regular season play before the MPSF championship tournament in two weeks.
With only one conference game left in the season, UCLA not only sits on top of the MPSF and national standings, but also has the best record of any top-10 team and has beaten three of the other four teams in the top five this season.
The Bruins opened up an early 3-1 lead in the first period before scoring three goals each in the last three periods while holding off the Tigers’ offense to finish the game 12-8. Although UCLA allowed a penalty shot, the team managed to score on five of seven power plays throughout the game.
As has been the case all season so far, no one player was particularly dominant in the game, with the goals spread among eight Bruins, including four players scoring twice each.
After the win over Pacific, the Bruins headed over to the No. 14 UC Davis Aggies. The Bruins won the nonconference game in a decisive fashion, outscoring Davis 16-4.
The matchup was never close, with UCLA outscoring UC Davis 4-1 in the first and last periods. Davis had an opportunity on a penalty shot in the second period but couldn’t get it past sophomore goalkeeper Garrett Danner.
UCLA will play Long Beach State at home on Saturday before heading to the MPSF championship tournament, which starts on Nov. 21.