At Avery Aquatic Center in Stanford this weekend, No. 2 UCLA men’s water polo completed a three day sweep at the NCAA tournament, defeating No. 12 Princeton, No. 3 Stanford and No. 1 USC to secure their second consecutive national championship. The Bruins finished the fight with a buzzer beater win over USC on Sunday.
The Bruins started the weekend on Friday with a 15-11 victory over Princeton. UCLA had a 5-1 lead in the first quarter and continued to lead with a 8-3 advantage in the second quarter. The Bruins lead in the third quarter with 11-7, during which UCLA head coach Adam Wright was given a yellow card, but the Bruins remained calm to secure the 15-11 victory and advance in the NCAA tournament. Sophomore Ryder Dodd and redshirt junior Frederico Jucá Carsalade each scored four goals to lead UCLA’s offense.
On Saturday, UCLA faced Stanford in the NCAA semifinals. The Bruins defeated the Cardinals, 9-7 in a close game. UCLA opened the first quarter, 2-1 and held onto their lead going into halftime, 4-3. Stanford took the lead from UCLA in the third quarter, 7-6, but the Bruins quickly shut down the Cardinals in the fourth, scoring three goals while the Cardinals couldn’t get any goals this quarter. The Bruins take the semifinal win resulting in a championship rematch with USC, which UCLA defeated in last year’s NCAA final.
For the NCAA championship on Sunday, it was a match between crosstown rivals. The game came down to the very last second, but the Bruins defeated their crosstown rivals, 11-10, in the most intense game of the tournament. UCLA led 3-1 in the first quarter before USC responded back with a dominant second quarter to take the lead, 6-4. The Bruins were still trailing the Trojans in the third, 8-7. Entering the fourth quarter, the Bruins’ offense came through. They scored four goals while USC had two and closed out an 11-10 win to secure the NCAA championship.
The fourth quarter got intense for both head coaches, who were each issued yellow cards late in the game with the championship on the line. USC head coach Marko Pintaric received a yellow card with the Trojans leading by one, and Wright was issued a yellow card with less than two minutes remaining and the score tied, 10-10. Pintaric was given an additional yellow/red card in the final minute of the game. Ultimately, it was the Bruins’ Carsalade that hit the buzzer beater to gain that extra point the Bruins needed to break the tie and win the championship. Ryder Dodd, an Olympic medalist, led the Bruins with three goals.
This victory marks UCLA’s second straight NCAA title and 14 overall.
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Featured Image via BruinLife Archives
