The No. 2 UCLA Bruins (22-1, 5-1 MPSF West) didn’t have to travel far for their matchup against the No. 1 USC Trojans (18-3, 4-2 MPSF West) at Uytengsu Aquatics Center on a rainy Saturday. Coming off a dominant win over the Pacific Tigers the week before, the Bruins carried that momentum into enemy territory, edging their crosstown rivals 14-13 to claim the No. 1 seed and capture the MPSF West regular season title.
Bruins defender Max Matthews opened the scoring with a goal 5:44 into the first quarter, and Bode Brinkema quickly followed with another to put UCLA 2-0. The teams traded possessions for much of the quarter until Vinnie Merk added a third goal with 1:09 remaining. UCLA had early foul trouble, picking up three exclusions to the Trojans one. One of the late exclusions (00:19) from UCLA led to a USC goal by Jack Vort to end the quarter 3-1.
Entering the second quarter, USC put together a scoring run of its own, scoring back to back goals to tie the game. The Trojans aggressive push was led by Stefan Brankovic and Strahinja Krstic, with USC taking control of the period and scoring five goals, including two from Krstic. UCLA didn’t take its foot off the gas, though, responding with goals from redshirt junior Ben Liechty and redshirt junior Frederico Juca Carsalade to close the half trailing just 6-5. The back and forth continued into the third quarter. USC’s Robert Lopez Duart struck first, but UCLA answered with a two goal burst from junior Wade Sherlock and sophomore Ryder Dodd. Dodd carried that momentum through the period, getting a last second goal to go in. Meanwhile, Krstic stayed hot, adding two more goals by the end of the quarter to go up 10-9.
UCLA entered the final quarter trailing 10-9, with one goal in mind, to claim the No. 1 seed. Chase Dodd opened things off with a goal to tie the game 10-10. Every minute saw a player step in and score. The intensity only rose as the clock went down, with the game tied 13-13 at the 1:55 mark. Then, with 1:09 remaining, Ryder Dodd delivered the last punch, capitalizing after Lopez Duart was called for a penalty. UCLA locked in defensively the rest of the way to secure a thrilling 14-13 victory over its crosstown rival.
After securing the No. 1 seed, UCLA will head to Stanford on Nov. 21 for the MPSF Championship Tournament, where the Bruins will face the winner of Penn State Behrend and Connecticut College.
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Featured Image Photographed by Janwayne Orme/BruinLife
