UCLA
UC San Diego
No. 1 UCLA Opens 2016 with 13-6 Win at No. 9 UCSD
September 03, 2016 | Men's Water Polo
Junior Max Irving led the Bruins with a hat trick.
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SAN DIEGO, Calif. -- The top-ranked UCLA Bruins opened the 2016 season with a 13-6 win at No. 9 UC San Diego on Saturday afternoon at Canyonview Aquatic Center. The victory was UCLA's 34th-straight win, which extends the second-longest winning streak in school history. The all-time record is 50, which was established from 1964-68.
Eight different Bruins scored in the game, led by junior Max Irving's hat trick. Seniors Ryder Roberts and Chancellor Ramirez each scored twice, as did freshman Jake Simpson. Senior goalkeeper Garrett Danner played in goal in the first half and registered six saves while allowing two goals. Junior Aleksandar Ruzic was in the cage for UCLA in second half, picking up five stops while allowing four goals.
Roberts scored the first goal of the season, putting UCLA up 1-0 at the 7:41 mark of the first period. Arman Momdzhyan tied it up at 1-1 with a goal (6:38). Junior Jack Grover added the only other score of the period (4:42) to give the Bruins a 2-1 lead at the end of the period.
Roberts opened the scoring in the second with a power play goal to push the lead to 3-1 (7:22). Sophomore Austin Rone scored on a cross-cage shot to extend the lead to 4-1 (6:10). Irving scored his first of three to push it to 5-1 (5:16). Ramirez would then score back-to-back goals (3:37 and 2:37) to make it 7-1. Junior Matt Farmer would score UCLA's seventh unanswered goal on a power play (1:27) to give the Bruins an 8-1 edge. Momdzhyan scored his second from the front court for the Tritons to cut it to 8-2 (0:20). Irving would beat the buzzer with a goal nearside to end the scoring in the first half with UCLA leading 9-2.
Simpson started the third period with a score on the first possession (7:38) to give UCLA a 10-2 lead. He followed that with a power play goal off a nice feed from sophomore Kent Inoue to make it 11-2 (5:51). Jack Ellinthorpe scored for the Tritons (5:35) to cut it to 11-3. Noah Carniglia then added a penalty score for UCSD to make it 11-4 with 2:25 left in the third. Irving beat the game clock again, scoring his third at the buzzer to give the Bruins a 12-4 lead at the end of three.
Senior Joey Fuentes opened the scoring in the final period with a power play goal off a fee from Rone (6:22) to push the lead to 13-4. Neither team would score for five minutes until Nassim Hmeidan scored on a power play for UCSD (1:23). Ellinthorpe scored his second goal at full strength (0:30) to provide the 13-6 final.
Jack Turner was credited with seven saves for the Tritons while giving up 13 goals.
The Bruins return to action later today when they face No. 17 Cal Baptist at 4:20 p.m.
No. 1 UCLA at No. 9 UC San Diego (Triton Invitational)
| SCOREBOARD | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | F |
| No. 1 UCLA | 2 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 13 |
| No. 9 UCSD | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 6 |
6x5 - UCLA - 4/6 - UCSD - 1/8
Penalties - UCLA - 0/0 - UCSD - 1/1
UCLA Goals: Max Irving 3, Ryder Roberts 2, Chancellor Ramirez 2, Jake Simpson 2, Matt Farmer 1, Jack Grover 1, Joey Fuentes 1, Austin Rone 1
UCLA Saves: Garrett Danner 6, Aleksandar Ruzic 5
UCSD Goals: Jack Ellinthorpe 2, Arman Momdzhyan 2, Nassim Hmeidan 1, Noah Carniglia 1
UCSD Saves: Jack Turner 7
