No. 4 UCLA Stymies No. 2 USC, 7-4

Sunday, November 18

Los Angeles, CA

11:00 AM

UCLA

USC

Senior Austin Rone scored twice and had two steals and drew two exclusions against USC.

Photo by: Don Liebig, UCLA Photography

No. 4 UCLA Stymies No. 2 USC, 7-4

November 18, 2018 | Men's Water Polo

NCAA Boxscore Alex Wolf Postgame Interview

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LOS ANGELES -- No. 2 and fourth-seeded UCLA (22-4, 1-2) used a dominant defensive effort and an offensive explosion in the second quarter to capture third place at the MPSF Championship with a 7-4 win over No. 2 USC (28-3, 2-1) on Sunday morning at USC's Uytengsu Aquatics Center.

The Bruins were led by senior Austin Rone and sophomore Chasen Travisano, who each scored two goals. Redshirt junior Alex Wolf started in the cage and went the distance, making 13 saves while holding USC to just four goals, its fewest of the year by five goals and the fewest since a 6-3 loss at California on Nov. 4, 2017. The four goals were also the fewest UCLA has held USC to since a 6-3 MPSF semifinal win at USC on Nov. 21, 2015.

Jacob Mercep scored the first goal of the game for USC (2:15) with a score from the front court. That goal came after Wolf had made six saves, including two on Trojan power plays and one on a 1-on-0 counter after a long rebound from a Bruin shot that hit the post. That score would hold up till the end of the first period.

The Bruins came roaring out of the gate in the second period, putting five goals on the board. Travisano scored back-to-back goals (7:11 and 5:43) to take a 2-1 lead. Rone gave the Bruins a 3-1 lead (5:08) with his first goal of the game on a nearside shot from the front court. Hannes Daube cut the lead to 3-2 with a power play goal for the Trojans at the 3:49 mark of the second. Sophomore Nicolas Saveljic scored his first of the game on a perfect lob shot (1:41) to put the Bruins up 4-2. Sophomore Quinten Osborne then scored a powerful goal at set to end the scoring in the first half (0:48), giving UCLA a 5-2 lead at the break.

Daube opened the scoring in the third with a power play goal (5:58) to cut the lead to 5-3. Freshman Ashworth Molthen scored his first of the game on a sidearm crosscage skipper that ended the scoring in the third (0:04), giving UCLA a 6-3 lead.

Zach D'Sa scored from the front court (3:07) to open the scoring in the fourth, cutting the lead to 6-4. But Rone found the back of the net for his second goal of the game (2:24) to push the lead back to three goals at 7-4. That score would hold as the final as UCLA shut down the Trojans the rest of the way.

The waiting game now begins as UCLA and the rest of the water polo world awaits the at-large bid selections, determined tonight.

No. 4 UCLA at No. 2 USC (MPSF Championship - Third-Place Game)

SCOREBOARD	1	2	3	4	FINAL
No. 4 UCLA	0	5	1	1	7
No. 2 USC	1	1	1	1	4

6x5 - UCLA - 0/4 - USC - 2/9
Penalties - UCLA - 0/0 - USC - 0/0

UCLA Goals: Chasen Travisano 2, Austin Rone 2, Quinten Osborne 1, Ashworth Molthen 1, Nicolas Saveljic 1
UCLA Saves: Alex Wolf 13

USC Goals: Hannes Daube 2, Jacob Mercep 1, Zach D'Sa 1
USC Saves: Nic Porter 9