#2 UCLA Water Polo Faces #2 UC Berkeley Again Today
The Bruins look for their third straight win and second straight against the Bears this afternoon.
This weekend, the UCLA men’s water polo team will compete in the USC Round Robin. This afternoon, the Bruins will play the UC Berkeley Golden Bears and, tomorrow, they will play a doubleheader against Southern Cal and Stanford. All games will be streamed and have live stats on TheFosh.net.
Last Time Out
Last Saturday, the Bruins hosted #5 Pepperdine. This game was over by the end of the first quarter, but it started competively. UCLA got on the scoreboard first with a powerplay goal from Tanner Pulice with 5:58 to go in the first quarter, but the Waves responded 37 seconds later to tie the game at 1-1. The Bruins took a 2-1 lead when Mo Kenney scored his first collegiate goal with 1:43 left, but Pepperdine responded 43 seconds later to tie it, 2-2. With just 32 seconds left in the first, Nicolas Saveljic put UCLA ahead to end the quarter.
The second quarter began with another goal from Kenney just 53 seconds into the period. The Waves scored consecutive goals to tie the game 4-4 and it stayed that way until the final two minutes of the first half. With 1:55 left, Chasen Travisano put the Bruins up for good and Tommy Gruwell gave them a two-goal lead with a last-second score.
The second half began the way the first half did with UCLA and Pepperdine trading goals. Pulice put the Bruins ahead 7-4 with his second goal 1:31 into the third, but the Waves responded 14 seconds later. But, the third quarter ended the way the first half did with consecutive goals from the Bruins. This time, though, UCLA scored three straight times with goals from Andy Rogers, Evan Rosenfeld and Kenney. That last goal gave Kenney a hat trick and proved to be the game-winner.
Kenney’s fourth goal of the game came just 59 seconds into the fourth quarter and gave UCLA an 11-5 lead. In the rest of the quarter, Rosenfeld went on to score two more times to pick up a hat trick and sandwiched Saveljic’s second of the game. With a minute left, Kenney added his fifth goal of the game and UCLA’s fifth of the quarter. Pepperdine added one with 39 seconds left and the Bruins won, 15-9.
Today’s Game
UC Berkeley was off last weekend and, as a result, hasn’t played since losing to the Bruins, 10-7, two weeks ago. Like any game between the Big Four, this one looks to be a toss-up on paper, but I’m giving UCLA the edge because the Golden Bears are traveling further for today’s game.
#2 UCLA Men’s Water Polo (3-2)
Opponent:Â #2 UC Berkeley Golden Bears (2-2)
Game Time:Â 1:30pm PT, Saturday, February 6, 2021
Where:Â Uytengsu Aquatics Center, Los Angeles, CA
Live TV/Audio:Â None
Live Stream:Â Pac-12.com
Live Stats:Â TheFosh.net
Official Previews/Game Notes
UCLA
UC Berkeley
Go Bruins!!!
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