UCLA Men's Water Polo Wins NC #124!
The Bruins beat the Trojans, 11-8, to claim UCLA's 124th NCAA title.
The UCLA Men’s Water Polo team has won the Bruins’ 124th NCAA Championship!
Today’s win wasn’t an easy one.
The Bruins started the scoring off in this game when Aaron Voggenthaler scored with 5:32 to go in the first quarter. Just under two minutes later, Southern Cal’s Luka Brnetic was called for a penalty and Nico Tierney gave UCLA a 2-0 lead as a result.
But just thirty-one seconds later, Robert Lopez Duart cut the lead in half for the Trojans. With just eighteen seconds to go in the first quarter, Southern Cal’s Max Miller tied the game, 2-2, and that’s how the quarter ended.
Twenty-seven seconds into the second quarter, Andrej Grgurevic gave Southern Cal their first lead of the game. But the Bruins weren’t going to be stopped today.
Chase Dodd tied the game back at 3-3 with 5:19 to go in the half.
The Trojans took the lead with 2:03 left when Tom McGuire scored a power play goal for Southern Cal. At this point, UCLA head coach Adam Wright earned a yellow card.
But the Bruins maintained their composure.
Not to be outdone by his brother, Ryder Dodd tied the game 4-4 with 1:37 left in the half, and that was the score at the break.
Just thirty-two seconds into the second half, Nico Tierney put the Bruins back ahead on a power play goal, but that lead lasted just twenty-five seconds as Lopez Duart tied it again for the Trojans.
Grgurevic’s second goal of the game gave Southern Cal what would be their last lead of the game when he made it 6-5 with 4:29 to go in the third quarter.
The Bruins responded quickly. Frederico Jucá Carsalade tied it, 6-6, just fifteen seconds later. With 1:03 left, Wright drew a red card, but fourteen seconds later, Ryder Dodd scored his second goal of the game on a power play to give the Bruins a 7-6 lead, and that’s how the third quarter ended.
Jack Larsen gave the Bruins some breathing room thirty-five seconds into the fourth quarter when he scored on a power play.
Brnetic closed the gap to 8-7 when he scored his second goal with 6:08 left, but twenty-six seconds later, Peter Castillo scored what turned out to be the game-winning goal as the Bruins took a 9-7 advantage.
Chase Dodd picked up his second goal with 4:19 left to put UCLA up, 10-7. At this point, the Bruin defense took control. They didn’t give up another goal until there was just 2:27 left. That’s when Luke Nelson closed the gap to 10-8.
But the UCLA defense held the rest of the way.
Larsen added a final insurance goal for the Bruins with just thirteen seconds left to make it 11-8, and that was all she wrote. Those final seconds ticked off and the Bruins had won UCLA’s 124th NCAA title!
Go Bruins!!!
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Congratulations to our 2024 men's water polo champions! An absolute "perfect day" at the expense of that other school across town.
Go Bruins!