The Bruins came out on top in front of a packed home crowd for their first conference win.
No. 4 UCLA men’s water polo (20-2, 1-1 MPSF) defeated No. 2 Stanford (17-2, 1-1) 10-8 on Saturday in the Bruins’ final game in Westwood this season.
UCLA got payback for its loss Oct. 13 at Stanford, where the Bruins lost by one on a last-second shot.
Sophomore attacker Chasen Travisano said UCLA had to put its recent losses away and have a new mentality coming into this game.
“We had a different approach to this game than last game,” Travisano said. “We had a good week of training (and) we came together as a team more and stayed to our team morals.”
After being down 9-5 in the third frame, Stanford pushed back in the final quarter with three unanswered goals to cut its deficit.
The Cardinal – who had the ball with 13 seconds left – were stifled by the Bruin defense, and sophomore attacker Nicolas Saveljic put away a lob over Stanford’s goalie with for his fourth of the day.
Senior attacker Austin Rone said the Bruins letting the Cardinal take over the momentum resulted in UCLA’s scoring drought in the fourth quarter.
“In the second quarter, we were playing a little bit more aggressively and confidently,” Rone said. “Moving into the third quarter, we let them attack us more. We just need to be a little more consistent throughout the game.”
Both teams had a higher scoring output in the first quarter than in their last meeting.
Sophomore center Quinten Osborne opened the scoring for the Bruins during their first time down the pool after just over a minute played. Saveljic and Rone added goals to give the Bruins a 3-2 lead going after the first period.
Redshirt junior goalie Alex Wolf and the Bruins did not allow a goal in the last eight minutes of the half, even after facing multiple man-down situations. Travisano scored twice and freshman attacker Jake Cavano added one more to push the Bruin lead to 6-2 going into the second half.
Coach Adam Wright said the Bruins’ consistency helped the team build its first-half lead, but the team lost focus after the break.
“When we play the right way, we’re a completely different team,” Wright said. “When we lose our focus, it’s not good. The best teams can keep focus and stay consistent through an entire game.”
The Bruins and the Cardinal continued to trade goals in the third quarter. Both teams scored three times, with Saveljic completing his hat trick and senior defender Warren Snyder scoring once to put the Bruins ahead 9-5 before the final eight minutes.
All four of the top Mountain Pacific Sports Federation teams are 1-1 in conference play. Wright said the Bruins’ defense and consistency need to be improved before the Bruins face No. 1 USC (26-1, 1-1).
“We have got to clean up (our consistency),” Wright said. “Our defense has got to clean up. If we’re not committed to playing great positional defense, it’s going to be a long day.”
The victory was the seniors’ final home game in their careers. The class of seniors has won two national titles and will look to add a third before they leave the program. Rone said he felt honored playing for the Bruins and competing at Spieker Aquatics Center.
“You think about the first time you’re in the pool,” Rone said. “How special it is to play in a pool like this for a team like this. But you also have to focus in. There was a big game today and that was the first thing on my mind.”