No. 1 UCLA Opens 2016 at UCSD Triton Invitational

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LOS ANGELES – No. 1 UCLA opens the 2016 season this weekend at the Triton Invitational at UC San Diego. The Bruins will open with the hosts, No. 9 UCSD, at Noon on Saturday, Sept. 3, at the Canyonview Aquatic Center (Triton Pool) and will conclude with No. 17 Cal Baptist at 4:20 p.m. at the Canyonview Pool. Then on Sunday, Sept. 4, UCLA will hosts its Annual UCLA Invitational, only this year with a twist. The one-day event will be held at Cathedral Catholic High School in San Diego, Calif. The Bruins open up the UCLA Invitational with Redlands at 9:00 a.m. and will face LMU at 11:40 a.m. After an exhibition scrimmage with Stanford at 2:20 p.m., the Bruins will conclude their busy day with Chapman at 3:30 p.m.

UCLA Invitational Schedule

9:00am	UCLA	Redlands
10:20am	Stanford	Chapman
11:40am	UCLA	LMU
1:00pm	Stanford	Redlands
2:20pm	UCLA	Stanford
3:30pm	UCLA	Chapman

Who's Back?
UCLA, back-to-back NCAA Champions, returns five All-MPSF and seven All-Americans for the 2016 season. Headlining that group is first team All-American, National Player of the Year, MPSF Player of the Year and 2016 Cutino Award winner, senior goalkeeper Garrett Danner. Danner led the MPSF in goals against average (6.05) in 2015 and also in 2014. The Bruins also return a pair of first team All-Americans in senior center Gordon Marshall and senior attacker Ryder Roberts. Both players were also named First Team All-MPSF with Marshall scoring 23 goals (eighth on the team) and Roberts leading the Bruins with 57 goals (5^th in the MPSF).

The Bruins also return the services of a pair of third team All-Americans in senior attacker Max Irving and junior attacker Patrick Fellner. Irving was second on the team in scoring with 47 goals while Fellner was third with 40 goals.

UCLA also returns a pair of honorable mention All-Americans in senior defender Chancellor Ramirez and junior utility Alex Roelse. Ramirez scored 17 goals while current Olympian Roelse added 25 goals.

Who's Gone?
The Bruins lost a pair of second team All-Americans in Daniel McClintick and Anthony Daboub. Daboub was fourth on the team in scoring (32 goals) while McClintick was sixth (26 goals). The Bruins' fifth-leading scorer, sophomore attacker Spencer Farrar (30 goals) has transferred.

Wright on Deck
UCLA Head Coach Adam Wright, the 2014 and 2015 ACWPC Coach of the Year, enters his eighth season in 2016 at the helm of the Bruins' program, sporting an overall record of 181-30 (.858), including a 48-9 (.842) mark in MPSF action. He was won two NCAA titles as a coach (2014 and 2015) and two as a player (1999 & 2000).

Recapping 2015
The Bruins ended the year with a 30-0 record and went a perfect 9-0 in the MPSF for its second-consecutive undefeated league season. UCLA went 4-0 on the year against USC, including a 10-7 victory in the NCAA Championship game to win its second straight NCAA title, the program's 10th overall and the school's 113th. The undefeated season was the first for UCLA since the 1969 team went 19-0, marking the fourth undefeated season all-time in NCAA men's water polo history. The Bruins enter 2016 with a 33-game winning streak (second-longest in school history) and a 24-game winning streak in the MPSF, a school record. The school record for consecutive overall wins is 50 (1964-68).

Picked to Win MPSF
For the second-straight year, UCLA has finished on top of the MPSF Men's Water Polo Preseason Coaches' poll, collecting the maximum possible 16 points and four first-place votes. Taking second in this year's poll is USC with 13 points and one first-place vote. National runners-up the last two years, the Trojans have reached the NCAA Championship game the last 11 seasons, winning seven titles in that span. They return their top seven scorers from last year, including All-Americans Blake Edwards (68 goals; No. 3 MPSF), Grant Stein, Lachlan Edwards, and Matteo Morelli. Olympians Thomas Dunstan (newcomer) and goalkeeper McQuin Baron are also on the roster. Finishing in the middle of the poll was California with 10 points, coming off a third-place finish at the NCAA Championship in 2015. U.S. Olympian Luca Cupido returns for the Bears, named first-team All-American and NCAA All-Tournament last year. Also back is the reigning MPSF Newcomer of the Year Johnny Hooper (74 goals; No. 2 MPSF), as well as all-conference performers Odysseas Masmanidis (66 goals) and goalkeeper Lazar Andric. Stanford placed fourth in the poll with seven points. Back is All-American Goalkeeper Drew Holland. He enters 2016 with 742 career saves, two away from the school record and 12 away from breaking into the MPSF's all-time top-10. While three of its top-four scorers have graduated (including MPSF all-time leading scorer Bret Bonanni), the Cardinal welcome back Reid Chase (38 goals), Cody Smith, and Connor Stapleton, along with U.S. Olympian Ben Hallock as part of a six-member incoming class. Rounding out the poll of the five-team conference is first-year member Penn State Behrend. The Lions will solely compete in the MPSF Championship Tournament, not in the MPSF's regular season conference schedule. They return All-American Grant Garcia along with Troy Valkusky, and bring in top newcomers Andre Sardaryzadeh, Isaak Hatopp, and Greg Levet. Located in Erie, Pa., NCAA Division III Penn State Behrend comes to the MPSF from the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA).

UCLA Hosting 2016 MPSF Championship
UCLA is this year's site of the 2016 MPSF Championship Tournament, November 18-20, where all five teams will compete for entry to the NCAA Tournament. California will host NCAA's December 3-4. Since its inaugural season of 1992, the MPSF has captured all 24 NCAA titles in men's water polo.

UCLA Preseason No. 1
The UCLA Bruins, which have been ranked at No. 1 for 18 consecutive weeks, dating back to week 12 of the 2014 poll (Nov. 26, 2014), were tabbed as the top-ranked team entering the 2016 season in the Collegiate Water Polo Association's (CWPA) Preseason Poll. Additionally, the Bruins have owned the top spot in 25 of the last 31 weekly polls.

2016 Men's Varsity Top 20 (Preseason)
Rank	Team	2015 Final Poll	Points
1	UCLA	1	99
2	USC	2	96
3	California	3	90
4	Pacific	4	84
5	Stanford	5	82
6	UC Santa Barbara	7	72
7	Long Beach State	8	68
8	UC Irvine	6	60
9	UC San Diego	9	59
10	UC Davis	11	52
11 (T)	Princeton	10	45
11 (T)	Pepperdine	13 (T)	45
13	Brown	15	36
14	Harvard	13 (T)	28
15	Air Force	16 (T)	27
16	Johns Hopkins	12	26
17	Cal Baptist	16 (T)	20
18	Bucknell	20	14
19	Santa Clara	19	13
20	St. Francis College Brooklyn	18	11
RV	Loyola Marymount	RV	9
RV	San Jose State	NR	6
RV	Redlands	NR	3
RV	George Washington	NR	2
RV	Navy	NR	1
RV	Fresno Pacific	NR	1

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No. 1 UCLA Opens 2016 at UCSD Triton Invitational

2016 Men's Varsity Top 20 (Preseason)

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Anthony Daboub

Garrett Danner

Spencer Farrar

Patrick Fellner

Max Irving

Gordon Marshall

Daniel McClintick

Chancellor Ramirez

Ryder Roberts

Alex Roelse

University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics

No. 1 UCLA Opens 2016 at UCSD Triton Invitational

2016 Men's Varsity Top 20 (Preseason)

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Next Event

Players Mentioned

Anthony Daboub

Garrett Danner

Spencer Farrar

Patrick Fellner

Max Irving

Gordon Marshall

Daniel McClintick

Chancellor Ramirez

Ryder Roberts

Alex Roelse

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