At the Avery Aquatic Center in Stanford, California, the Bruins showed resilience and execution to overcome the strong Cardinal squad. From the opening sprint to the final whistle, both teams traded blows, but UCLA’s late-game surge won the game.
From the start, the game was balanced but tense. UCLA grabbed a 2–0 lead in the first quarter, only to see Stanford storm back with five goals in the second quarter to make the score even 5-5 at halftime. The third quarter stayed tight, with both sides adding 4 (UCLA) and 5 (Stanford), Stanford with the lead entering into the final quarter of the game.
In the fourth quarter, Ben Larsen opened the scoring to even the game at 10–10, assisted by Ryder Dodd. Shortly after, Peter Castillo made a goal off an assist from Ben Liechty which gave UCLA the lead. Then Stanford’s Ben Forer responded with a penalty strike to tie it once more, but UCLA regained momentum when Frederico Juca Carsalade converted his own penalty opportunity. From there, Dodd struck twice more, once in a 6-on-5 setup, pushing the score to 14–11. Through the end of the game UCLA’s defense held firm to deny any late comeback attempts and stayed in the lead.
With that result, UCLA remains a top contender at #1 in national collegiate rankings, while Stanford falls a little behind at #4. Next up, the Bruins are set to face Princeton, ranked #12 on October 11 in their upcoming matchup, where they will look to defend their top ranking.
—
Featured Image Photographed by Max Zhang/Daily Bruin
