UCLA
UC Santa Barbara
UCLA Men's Water Polo Sinks UCSB 13-8 in Opening Round of MPSF Tourney
November 26, 1999 | Men's Water Polo
Nov. 26, 1999
IRVINE, Calif. - Senior Matt Armato scored five points, including two two-pointers, while junior Sean Kern tallied four goals to lead the UCLA men's water polo team over UC Santa Barbara 13-8 in the opening round of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation tournament at the UC Irvine Aquatics Complex Friday.
The victory improves the second-ranked Bruins' overall record to 18-3, while the Gauchos drop to 10-14. UCLA entered the tournament as the number one seed with a perfect 8-0 conference record, while UCSB secured the eighth-seed with a 6-4 victory over UC Irvine earlier today.
UCSB jumped out to an early 3-0 lead before Armato sparked the UCLA offense with his first two-pointer with 2:49 left to play in the first quarter. But Gaucho junior Tom Coughlan answered with his second goal of the game to give UCSB a 4-2 lead at the conclusion of the opening frame.
Penalties figured to be costly for UCSB, as the Bruins charged back to tie in the second quarter on penalty shots by junior Adam Wright and Armato. Wright added his second goal of the game with 2:48 remaining in the second quarter to give the Bruins a 5-4 halftime advantage.
The Gauchos did not waste any time getting back in the game, as senior Chris Driscoll evened the score 5-5 barely 40 seconds into the third quarter. Kern answered with the eventual game-winning goal and Armato netted his second two-pointer of the game to give UCLA a lead it would never relinquish.
The Bruins poured on the offense in the final quarter with three goals from Kern, and one goal a piece from juniors Brian Brown and Dave Parker.
UCLA will face fourth-seeded California (13-10 overall, 4-4 MPSF) tomorrow at noon in the semifinal round of the MPSF Tournament. The Bruins have defeated the Golden Bears three times this season.
In other MPSF tournament opening round action, Cal defeated Long Beach State 8-6, while Stanford defeated Pepperdine 6-3. The biggest surprise of the day came when Pacific's Chris Lund scored a goal with 14 seconds remaining in regulation to lift the Tigers over third-seeded USC 10-9. With the upset loss, USC can only finish as high as fifth in the tournament.
UCSB 4 0 2 2= 8
UCLA 2 3 3 5= 13
UCSB: Tom Coughlan 3, Scott Miller 2, Chris Driscoll, Eliot Biggert, Anthony Borasi. UCLA: Matt Armato 5 (2 two-pointers), Sean Kern 4, Adam Wright 2, Brian Brown, Dave Parker.
Saves: UCSB - Trevor Spence 8, UCLA - Brandon Brooks 7.
MPSF Water Polo TournamentFriday, November 26, 1999 - First Round Game 1 #8 UC Santa Barbara 6, #9 UC Irvine 4 Game 2 #4 California 8, #5 Long Beach State 6 Game 3 #3 USC 9, #6 Pacific 10 Game 4 #2 Stanford 6, #7 Pepperdine Game 5 #1 UCLA 13, #8 UC Santa Barbara 8
Saturday, November 27, 1999 - Semifinal Round Game 6 Long Beach State vs. UC Santa Barbara 9:00 a.m. Game 7 USC vs. Pepperdine 10:30 a.m. Game 8 California vs. UCLA Noon Game 9 Pacific vs. Stanford 1:30 p.m.
Sunday, November 28, 1999 - Championship Round Game 10 7th Place - Losers 6 vs. 7 9:00 a.m. Game 11 5th Place - Winners 6 vs. 7 10:30 a.m. Game 12 3rd Place - Losers 8 vs. 9 Noon Game 13 Championship - Winners 8 vs. 9 1:30 p.m.
