UCLA
USC
Wright Leads Men's Water Polo To Victory Over USC
November 18, 2000 | Men's Water Polo
Nov. 18, 2000
PASADENA, Calif. - The No. 3 men's water polo team won its final regular season game this afternoon, defeating No. 2 USC 6-5 at the Rose Bowl Aquatics Center. Senior Adam Wright scored three goals to lead the Bruins, who finish the regular season 18-3, 7-1 in league. USC finishes the regular season 18-6, 6-2 in MPSF.
Matt Flesher opened the scoring for the Bruins, putting in a goal at 5:04 in the first period. Two minutes later, Wright lobbed a ball over USC goalie Darin Smith to give the Bruins a 2-0 lead. With four seconds remaining in the period, USC's Tim Wollthan was called for a four-meter penalty, but Smith blocked Wright's penalty shot attempt.
George Csaszar closed the gap for the Trojans early in the second period, putting in an extra man goal. Daniel Lontay tied the score at 3:53 with another extra man goal, but Wright quickly put the Bruins ahead again with a shot from four meters out. Flesher gave the Bruins another two goal lead at 2:10, but the Trojans scored with 0:38 left in the half to make the score 4-3 after two periods.
Brian Brown gave the Bruins a two goal advantage at 2:09, but Ivan Babic put in his second goal of the game on USC's next possession. One minute later, Wright scored his third goal of the game to give UCLA a 6-4 lead heading into the final period.
The Trojans were able to reduce the Bruin lead to one goal with a Csaszar goal at 4:59, but the Trojans could not score again. They had the ball with 0:43 remaining, but Brown came up with a steal 15 seconds into the possession, and held on to the ball to run out the clock.
Brandon Brooks made seven saves to lead the Bruins to their 15th win in 16 games. Smith made seven saves in the losing effort.
UCLA and USC will be participating in the MPSF Tournament next weekend at the Los Alamitos Armed Forces Base. UCLA is 7-1 in league play and will be the #2 seed. The Trojans finished 6-2 and are the #3 seed. Games begin on Friday.
USC (18-6, 6-2) 0 3 1 1= 5 UCLA (18-3, 7-1) 2 2 2 0= 6
USC: George Csaszar 2, Ivan Babic 2, Daniel Lontay
UCLA: Adam Wright 3, Matt Flesher 2, Brian Brown.
Saves: USC - Darin Smith 7,
UCLA - Brandon Brooks 7.
