UCLA Men's Water Polo Loses in MPSF Semis; Will Play Southern Cal for 3rd Place
The Bruins just couldn't score enough fourth quarter goals to overcome the Cardinal's lead yesterday.
This morning, the UCLA men’s water polo team will play Southern Cal in the Third Place Game of the MPSF Men’s Water Polo Tournament after the Bruins lost in the semifinals to Stanford yesterday, 11-8. The opening sprint for today’s game is scheduled for 11:30 am PT. While the game will be live streamed, a subscription is required.
Last Time Out
Yesterday, the first quarter began tentatively with neither team scoring until for almost two and a half minutes. Stanford scored the first goal of the game with 5:38 left in the period, but the Bruins tied it up when Jack Larson scored with 3:31 to go. The Cardinal re-took the lead with two minutes to go, but UCLA responded with 46 seconds left and the game was tied 2-2 after one.
The Bruins picked up second quarter goals from Hayden Nightingale, Gabe Discipulo and Jake Cavano. Each time UCLA scored in the second quarter, Stanford responded. Then, with the score tied 5-5 and 17 seconds to go, the Cardinal got one more goal before the half to take a 6-5 lead into the break.
Stanford made it a two-goal lead in the first minute of the second half, but Giorgio Allessandria cut that lead in half with 6:03 left in the third. The Cardinal stretched their lead back to two points a minute and twenty seconds later, but Nicolas Saveljic responded with 2:56 to go. It was looking like UCLA would trail by just a point heading into the final frame but, with just three seconds left in the quarter, Stanford scored again to go up, 9-7.
That would prove to be the game-winner for the Cardinal even though they went on to add two insurance goals in the fourth quarter. Unfortunately, the Bruins weren’t able to score until Cavano scored his second of the game with 1:15 to go.
MPSF Men’s Water Polo Tournament Third Place Game
Opponents:Â 2-seed UCLA Bruins (6-6) vs. 4-seed Southern Cal Trojans (5-8)
Game Time:Â 11:30 am PT, Sunday, March 7, 2021
Where:Â Spieker Aquatics Center, Los Angeles, CA
Live TV/Audio:Â None
Live Stream: MPSF.tv ($)
Live Stats:Â TheFosh.net
MPSF Tournament Central
Go Bruins!!!
Thanks again for supporting The Mighty Bruin. Your paid subscriptions make this site possible. Questions, comments, story ideas, angry missives and more can be sent to to @TheMightyBruin on Twitter.