No. 4 UCLA Hosts No. 2 Stanford on Saturday

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LOS ANGELES – No. 4 UCLA (19-2, 0-1) hosts No. 2 Stanford (17-1, 1-0) on Saturday, Nov. 3 at 3:30 p.m. PT at Spieker Aquatics Center in the home finale for the Bruins. The "Senior Day" ceremony will take place at 3:10 p.m. and UCLA will be honoring the five Bruins that qualified for the 1980 Olympics but did not compete due to a boycott by the United States. Admission is free and the first 200 fans will receive a free NCAA Championship pennant.

SCHEDULE AT A GLANCE
Saturday, November 3 (Spieker Aquatics Center)
3:30 p.m. –.No. 2 Stanford at No. 3 UCLA

Saturday, November 10 (Uytengsu Aquatics Center)
TBD – No. 3 UCLA at No. 1 USC (Pac-12 Networks)

Friday-Sunday, November 16-18 (Uytengsu Aquatics Center)
TBD – MPSF Tournament

Series History
Stanford leads the all-time series with the Bruins, 84-72. The Cardinal won this year's earlier meeting, 8-7, at the buzzer in the semifinals of the Mountain Pacific Invitational. The Bruins were led by freshman Jake Cavano and sophomore Nicolas Saveljic, who each scored a game-high two goals. Redshirt junior Alex Wolf started in the cage and went the distance, recording 12 saves while allowing eight goals. UCLA won the last meeting between the two teams in Los Angeles, 7-6 on Oct. 29, 2016. Patrick Fellner led the Bruins with a hat trick and his final goal with 1:47 to go proved to be the game winner. Jack Grover added two scores for the Bruins. Garrett Danner started in goal for the Bruins, registering eight saves, two steals and two assists while giving up six goals (four on power plays). UCLA Head Coach Adam Wright is 11-8 against Stanford (10 years).

Recapping Last Week
No. 3 UCLA (19-2) dropped its MPSF opener, 9-7, at No. 4 California (15-3) on Saturday afternoon (Oct. 27) at Spieker Aquatics Complex in Berkeley, Calif. The Bruins fell to 87-68-1 all-time against the Golden Bears. The Bruins were led by freshman Ashworth Molthen who scored a game-high and season-high-tying three goals. Redshirt junior Alex Wolf started in the cage and went the distance, recording 12 saves while allowing nine goals..

Cavano Named MPSF/KAP7 Player of the Week
UCLA freshman Jake Cavano (Huntington Beach, CA/Huntington Beach HS) was named the MPSF/KAP7 Player of the Week as announced by the league office on Monday, Sept. 17. The true freshman made a stellar debut last week, leading the Bruins in scoring with 10 goals in three games to help keep the team unbeaten. After missing the first eight games of the season, Cavano scored his first collegiate goal in a win at No. 7 UC Santa Barbara (Sept. 13). He then had a team-high and MPSF season-high-tying five goals (on six shots) in a 16-10 home win over No. 10 Pepperdine, followed by a team-best four goals (on four shots) in a 14-8 win over Loyola Marymount in game two of Saturday's doubleheader (Sept. 15). He was 10-for-14 on shots for the week, while recording three assists, three steals and one field block over the three wins. This is the first career MPSF honor for Cavano. He was also named the UCLA/Muscle Milk Student-Athlete of the Week.

Coaching Changes
During the offseason, UCLA men's water polo hired three-time NCAA Champion and Bruin standout Jack Grover to the post of assistant coach (replacing Ryder Roberts) and has added U.S. Olympian and former UCLA All-American Alex Roelse as an undergraduate assistant coach. These changes are following the 2017 promotion of Jason Falitz to associate head coach.

Wright on Deck
Adam Wright is in his 10th season as UCLA's head men's water polo coach in 2018 with an overall record of 246-39 (.863) and an MPSF mark of 51-13 (.797). His teams earned perfect APR (Academic Progress Rate) scores of 1,000 in 2014, 2015 and 2016 while winning the school's 112th, 113th and 114th NCAA Championships in 2014, 2015 and 2017. On July 20, 2017, UCLA Director of Athletics, Dan Guerrero, announced that Wright will guide both the UCLA men's and women's water polo teams.

Recapping 2017
Overall Record: 21-4 | Final Ranking: 1st | NCAA Finish: 1st | MPSF Tournament Finish: 2nd

The Bruins finished the 2017 season by winning the program's 11^th NCAA Championship and the school's 114^th overall with a 7-5 victory at USC. UCLA finished the year with a 21-4 record, culminating in its third NCAA title in the last four years. Adam Wright was named MPSF and ACWPC National Coach of the Year. Six Bruins were named All-Americans with seniors Alex Roelse and Max Irving being named to the first team. Redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Alex Wolf was named to the second team after being selected as the NCAA Tournament MVP. Also chosen as a second team All-American was the Bruins' leading scorer, freshman Nicolas Saveljic.

Bruins Picked to Finish First in the MPSF
Defending national champion UCLA placed on top of the 2018 MPSF Men's Water Polo Preseason Coaches' Poll, collecting the maximum possible totals of 25 points and five first-place votes. The Bruins, who have captured three of the last four NCAA titles, welcome back four starters and a pair of Second Team All-Americans from last year's 21-4 team. Junior goalkeeper and 2017 NCAA Championship MVP Alex Wolf returns as does sophomore team leading scorer Nicolas Saveljic (45 goals, MPSF 4th). Coming off an MPSF Championship and a 13th-straight NCAA Final appearance, USC finished second in the poll with 21 points and the remaining first-place vote. Only one true senior is on the Trojan roster this year in Zach D'Sa, who scored a career-best 26 goals for last year's 27-4 squad. USC also returns All-Americans Matt Maier and Marko Vavic, as well as Olympian Thomas Dunstan. Vavic was one of three players in the MPSF last year to put away at least 50 goals. California placed third in the poll with 16 points. The Bears return two of the nation's most prolific scorers from last year's NCAA Semifinal team in senior First Team All-American Johnny Hooper (47 goals) and senior Second-Team All-American Odysseas Masmanidis (40 goals). Olympians Hooper and Masmanidis both finished 2017 in the MPSF's top-six in scoring average. Stanford took fourth in the poll with 14 points. Led by First Team All-American and MPSF Newcomer of the Year Ben Hallock (54 goals, MPSF 2nd) and two-time All-American Blake Parrish (36 goals), the Cardinal welcomes back its top two scorers from last year's top-seeded MPSF Tournament team. Penn State Behrend had nine points to place fifth. Kyle Frerichs (20 goals), Isaak Hatopp (14 goals), and goalkeeper Matt Olimski (246 saves) are amongst the top returnees. The Lions will make their third appearance in the MPSF Championship Tournament. Austin College rounds out the preseason poll, transitioning from club status to its first-ever season on the NCAA level. Sophomores Andrew Pomier (GK) and Robert Griffin are projected as key starters after club level success. As with Penn State Behrend, the Kangaroos will not partake in the MPSF's regular season, but will compete in the postseason conference tournament.

2018 MPSF Coaches' Preseason Poll

Team	Points (1st Place)	2017 Record	2017 MPSF Tourney	2017 NCAA Finish
UCLA	25 (5)	21-4	2nd	Champions
USC	21 (1)	27-4	1st	2nd
California	16	20-4	3rd	T-3rd
Stanford	14	19-5	4th	n/a
Penn State Behrend	9	6-15	5th	n/a
Austin College	5	First Year	First Year	First Year

UCLA In The CWPA Poll
The Bruins, who claimed the 2017 NCAA Championship, dropped one spot to fourth place in the Week 9 CWPA National Men's Varsity Top 20 Poll (86 points), released on Oct. 31.

2018 MEN'S VARSITY TOP 20 (Week 9 - Oct. 31)
Rank	Team	Last Week's Poll	Points
1	USC	1	100
2	Stanford	2	95
3	California	4	90
4	UCLA	3	86
5	Pacific	5	80
6	UC Santa Barbara	6	75
7	Pepperdine	7	71
8	Long Beach State	8	63
9	UC Davis	9	61
10	UC San Diego	10	55
11	UC Irvine	11	52
12	Cal Baptist	15	43
13	Harvard	15 (T)	37
14	Santa Clara	15 (T)	26
15	Loyola Marymount	20	25
16	Bucknell	17	24
17	Princeton	13	22
18	St. Francis Brooklyn	RV	16
19	Brown	14	13
20	San José State	18	10
RV	Pomona-Pitzer	19	8
RV	George Washington	RV	3
RV	Air Force	RV	2

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No. 4 UCLA Hosts No. 2 Stanford on Saturday

2018 MEN'S VARSITY TOP 20 (Week 9 - Oct. 31)

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Jake Cavano

Garrett Danner

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Jack Grover

Max Irving

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Nicolas Saveljic

Alex Wolf

University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics

No. 4 UCLA Hosts No. 2 Stanford on Saturday

2018 MEN'S VARSITY TOP 20 (Week 9 - Oct. 31)

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Next Event

Players Mentioned

Jake Cavano

Garrett Danner

Patrick Fellner

Jack Grover

Max Irving

Ashworth Molthen

Ryder Roberts

Alex Roelse

Nicolas Saveljic

Alex Wolf

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