UCLA
UC Irvine
No. 1 UCLA Crushes No. 9 UC Irvine, 17-9
September 27, 2014 | Men's Water Polo
LOS ANGELES -- The No. 1 UCLA men's water polo team opened MPSF play with a 17-9 win over No. 9 UC Irvine on the Pac-12 Networks on Saturday morning at Spieker Aquatics Center. The Bruins improved to 13-0 overall while the Anteaters dropped to 10-3. The win marked the 12th-consecutive over UC Irvine.
The Bruins had three players record hat tricks, led by junior Danny McClintick's four goals and two assists.
UC Irvine jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead after a counter attack score from former Bruin turned Anteater, Lovre Milos, at 7:27 and then a goal by Matt Skinner at the 6:10 mark of the opening period. But the Bruins woke up from the early start to score eight straight goals to put the game out of reach. Sophomore Gordon Marshall got things going with a power play goal (5:36) and then sophomore Chancellor Ramirez tied things at 2-2 (4:51). McClintick's first goal, a power play score, gave UCLA its first lead of the game (3:43). Senior Paul Reynolds scored from the front court (1:22) to end the first period with the Bruins leading 4-2.
UCLA's most dominant period was in the second, when it outscored UCI 4-1. Marshall scored his second of the game from set (5:41) and then redshirt freshman Maxwell Irving fired a powerful crosscage shot from distance to put UCLA up 6-2 (4:58). Ramirez made it 7-2 with an extra man goal (4:25) and scored again (1:01) to extend the lead to 8-2, completing his hat trick. Brendan Duffy snapped the Bruins' unanswered scoring streak of eight goals to provide the halftime score of 8-3 (0:36).
The Bruins best offensive quarter came in the third as UCLA outscored UCI 5-2. Reynolds scored his second of the game on an excellent lob shot (6:14) and McClintick added a powerful skip shot (5:17) as UCLA led 10-3. After Skinner cut the lead to 10-4 (4:50), senior Cristiano Mirarchi scored his first of the game for the Bruins (3:41). Milos would score his second and final goal of the game (2:21) to cut the lead to 11-5. But McClintick completed his hat trick with an exclusion goal (2:01) and senior Daniel Lenhart scored on a counter (0:11) to give the Bruins a 13-5 lead heading into the fourth.
Both teams battled to a 4-4 tie in the fourth period to provide the 17-9 final. Marshall opened the scoring with a lob from two meters (6:17) to put UCLA up 14-5. After Alan Robertson scored for UCI (5:48), the Bruins got a power play goal from sophomore Jack Fellner (5:18) and McClintick fired in another skipper (4:43), his fourth goal of the game, to push the lead to 16-6. UC Irvine then got its first power play goal of the game, the first goal from Pablo Carballo (3:39). That started a string of three straight goals for UCI. Senior Christopher Meinhold capped the scoring for the game with a power play score with 0:23 remaining in the game.
The Bruins were 6-for-9 on power plays while UC Irvine was just 1-for-7. Neither team attempted a penalty shot.
Sophomore Garrett Danner started in goal for UCLA and played the first three quarters and was relieved by senior James Hartshorne with 2:59 left in the fourth period. Danner ended with eight saves while allowing seven goals. Hartshorne surrendered the final two goals while making two stops. Dylan Peterson played the first half for UC Irvine and made two stops while allowing eight goals. Byron Rivers played the second half in goal for the Anteaters and was credited with three stops while surrendering nine goals.
The Bruins have an Alumni Match today at 3:00 p.m. at Spieker Aquatics Center, then return to action on Friday, Oct. 3, when they host Pepperdine in an MPSF match at Spieker Aquatics Center at 7:00 p.m.
No. 9 UC Irvine at No. 1 UCLA
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | F | |
| No. 9 UC Irvine | 2 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 9 |
| No. 1 UCLA | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 17 |
UCI Goals: Matt Skinner 3, Lovre Milos 2, Pablo Carballo 2, Alan Robertson, Brendan Duffy
UCI Saves: Byron RIvers 3, Dylan Peterson 2
UCLA Goals: Danny McClintick 4, Chancellor Ramirez 3, Gordon Marshall 3, Paul Reynolds 2, Christopher Meinhold, Cristiano Mirarchi, Daniel Lenhart, Jack Fellner, Maxwell Irving
UCLA Saves: Garrett Danner 8, James Hartshorne 2
Players Mentioned
