Friday, November 17
Stanford, CA
4:30 PM
UCLA
8
vs
5
California
David Stiling (10) and Alex Roelse (11) each scored twice today while Austin Rone (20) scored a goal in the win over Cal.
Photo by: John Hilinski
#3 UCLA Advances to MPSF Finals, Beats #2 Cal 8-5
November 17, 2017 | Men's Water Polo
The Bruins will face #4 USC in the MPSF title game on Sunday, Nov. 19 at 1:00 p.m. PT.
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Senior Alex Roelse and junior David Stiling led the Bruins in scoring with a game-high-tying two goals. Redshirt sophomore Alex Wolf played the entire game, registering 14 saves while allowing just five goals. He picked up four saves on Golden Bear power plays and allowed just the one power play score, one penalty score and three goals at even strength.
The win marked the Bruins' third-consecutive year with a win over California in the MPSFย Tournament.
The Bruins jumped out to a 2-0 lead with front court scores from Stiling (7:01) and freshman Nicolas Saveljic (5:39). Saveljicย has scored at least one goal in 20 of the 21 games he has played (played only one quarter in the 20-9 win over No. 17 Cal Baptist (Oct. 13) and failed to score on only one shot). Cal tied it at 2-2 with a front court score from Luca Cupido (4:07) and a power play goal by Safakย Simsek (2:33) to end the scoring in the first period
UCLA, which never trailed in the game, opened the scoring in the second quarter with a score by Roelse after an ordinary foul (7:37) to give the Bruins a 3-2 advantage. Junior Austin Rone put UCLA up 4-2 (6:48) with a strike from the front court. Odysseas Masmanidisย scored from two meters (6:23) to pull the Bears to within one. But Roelse's second of the quarter, a front court score at the 6:01 mark, put the Bruins up 5-3. Hooper converted a penalty shot (2:01) to cut the Bruins' lead to 5-4. But Stiling provided the Bruins some momentum heading into the break with a goal from distance as time expired to put UCLA up 6-4 at halftime.
In a dominating defensive second half, the Bruins only allowed the Golden Bears one goal in the second half. Senior Jesse Camou scored the only goal of the third period for either team (3:10) on a beautiful lob shot on a counter that was assisted by Roelse. UCLA took a 7-4 lead into the fourth.
The Bruins only had one defensive lapse, allowing Hooper to score his second of the game on a counter with 5:08 remaining in the fourth that cut UCLA's lead to 7-5. But senior Matt Farmer scored a clutch goal at set (4:14) that provided the 8-5 final. Wolf and company did the rest, picking up three defensive stops in the fourth to preserve the victory.
No. 3 UCLA vs. No. 2 Californiaย (MPSFย Tournament Semifinal)
| SCOREBOARD | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | FINAL |
| No. 3 UCLA | 2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 8 |
| No.ย 2 CAL | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
6x5 -ย UCLA - 0/6ย - CAL - 1/10
Penalties -ย UCLA - 0/0 - CAL - 1/1
UCLA Goals:ย Alex Roelseย 2, David Stilingย 2,ย Jesse Camou 1, Austin Roneย 1, Nicolas Saveljicย 1, Matt Farmerย 1
UCLA Saves:ย Alex Wolfย 14
ย
CAL Goals:ย Johnny Hooperย 2, Odysseas Masmanidisย 1, Safak Simsek 1, Luca Cupido 1
CAL Saves:ย Kevin Le Vine 6
Players Mentioned
ATK
/ Men's Water Polo
C
/ Men's Water Polo
UTL
/ Men's Water Polo
ATK
/ Men's Water Polo
ATK
/ Men's Water Polo
ATK
/ Men's Water Polo
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