No. 2 UCLA Hits the Road to Face Two Top 10 Teams

SOCIAL MEDIA: MWP on Twitter | MWP on Facebook | MWP on Instagram

LOS ANGELES – No. 2 UCLA (13-0) travels to No. 6 Pacific (5-4) to face the Tigers on Saturday, Sept. 29 at 12:00 p.m. PT at Chris Kjeldsen Pool in Stockton, Calif. The Bruins will then take on No. 8 UC Davis (7-3) on Sunday, Sept. 30 at 12:00 p.m. PT at Schaal Aquatics Center in Davis, Calif.

Saturday, Sept. 29

12:00 p.m. PT

No. 2 UCLA at No. 6 Pacific

Sunday, Sept. 30

12:00 p.m. PT

No. 2 UCLA at No. 8 UC Davis

Recapping Last Week
No. 2 UCLA improved to 13-0 on the year by going 2-0 last week. The Bruins opened with a 9-7 win at then-No. 7 Long Beach State on Friday, Sept. 21. The Bruins were led by a trio of players that scored two goals, which included sophomores Felix Brozyna-Vilim and Nicolas Saveljic and senior David Stiling. Redshirt junior Alex Wolf got the start in the cage and went the distance, recording five saves while allowing seven goals. UCLA returned home on Saturday, Sept. 22 and posted a 14-7 win over then-No. 12 UC Irvine. The Bruins were led by a pair of hat tricks from senior Austin Rone and sophomore Nicolas Saveljic. Redshirt junior Alex Wolf got the start in the cage and had a stellar first half, making seven stops while allowing two goals. Freshman Danny Roland came on in relief in the second half and also made seven stops while surrendering five scores.

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.

Who is Back?
UCLA returns four starters but just two All-Americans for the 2018 season. Redshirt junior goalkeeper and 2017 NCAA Championship MVP Alex Wolf returns as does the Bruins' leading scorer from a year ago, sophomore Nicolas Saveljic (45 goals, 4^th in the MPSF). Both Wolf and Saveljic were second team All-Americans and earned honorable mention All-MPSF honors in 2017.

The Bruins also return two other starters in sophomore attacker Chasen Travisano (26 goals, 5^th on team in scoring, 23rd in MPSF) and sophomore utility Evan Rosenfeld (nine goals, 13 starts). Senior attacker Austin Rone also returns (12 goals, 7^th on team in scoring, 12 starts) as does sophomore center Quinten Osborne (10 goals, 8^th on team, seven starts).

Also returning in 2018 and looking to contribute is senior attacker Kent Inoue (nine goals), senior defender Warren Snyder (seven goals), junior attacker James Vlachonassios (five goals), sophomore attacker Luke Henriksson (seven goals), senior attacker David Stiling (seven goals), sophomore utility Felix Brozyna-Vilim (seven goals), junior center Raphael Raede (six goals) and junior attacker Eric Goldenberg (eight goals).

Who was Waiting?
UCLA returns several redshirts that were waiting in the wings a year ago. The redshirts included Bailey Jarvis (6-4, DEF, Walnut Creek, Calif./Las Lomas HS) and Peter Lovas (6-3, ATK, Budapest, Hungary/Csik Ferenc Secondary Grammar School/Golden West College).

Who has Arrived?
UCLA head men's water polo coach Adam Wright assembled a stellar class for 2018, Arriving in Westwood this season and looking to make an immediate impact is Matthew Kacura (6-2, ATK, San Clemente, Calif./Orange Lutheran HS), Ashworth Molthen (6-3, ATK, Buena Park, Calif./Orange Lutheran HS), Jake Cavano (6-4, ATK, Fountain Valley, Calif./Huntington Beach HS), Michael Graner (6-0, ATK, El Segundo, Calif./Loyola HS), Danny Roland (6-3, GK, San Rafael, Calif./Sir Francis Drake HS) and Morio Saito (5-10, ATK, Los Angeles, Calif./Harvard-Westlake/Santa Monica College).

Who is Gone?
UCLA lost a pair of first team All-Americans in attacker Max Irving (40 goals, 20 starts) and utility Alex Roelse (35 goals, six starts). The Bruins will also need to replace second team All-American center Matt Farmer (29 goals, 12 starts) and honorable mention All-American attacker Jack Grover (13 goals, 18 starts).

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 240-37 (.866) and an MPSF mark of 51-12 (.810). 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, remained in second place in the Week 4 CWPA National Men's Varsity Top 20 Poll (96 points), released on Sept. 26.

2018 MEN'S VARSITY TOP 20 (Week 4 - Sept. 26)
Rank	Team	Last Week's Poll	Points
1	USC	1	99
2	UCLA	2	96
3	Stanford	3	89
4	California	4	86
5	UC Santa Barbara	5	79
6	Pacific	6	76
7	Harvard	8 (T)	66
8 (T)	UC San Diego	11	63
8 (T)	UC Davis	8 (T)	63
10	Long Beach State	7	58
11	Pepperdine	10	52
12	Princeton	12	43
13	UC Irvine	13	39
14	Cal Baptist	15	30
15	Bucknell	14	29
16	Pomona-Pitzer	16	27
17	San Jose State	17	17
18 (T)	Wagner	15	10
18 (T)	Loyola Marymount	RV	10
20 (T)	Whittier	RV	8
20 (T)	George Washington	19 (T)	8
RV	Brown	18	6
RV	Santa Clara	RV	2

Recent Results

Upcoming Events

No. 2 UCLA Hits the Road to Face Two Top 10 Teams

2018 MEN'S VARSITY TOP 20 (Week 4 - Sept. 26)

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Felix Brozyna-Vilim

Jake Cavano

Matt Farmer

Eric Goldenberg

Michael Graner

Jack Grover

Luke Henriksson

Kent Inoue

Max Irving

Bailey Jarvis

Matthew Kacura

Peter Lovas

Ashworth Molthen

Quinten Osborne

Raphael Raede

Ryder Roberts

Alex Roelse

Danny Roland

Austin Rone

Evan Rosenfeld

Morio Saito

Nicolas Saveljic

Warren Snyder

David Stiling

Chasen Travisano

James Vlachonassios

Alex Wolf

University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics

No. 2 UCLA Hits the Road to Face Two Top 10 Teams

2018 MEN'S VARSITY TOP 20 (Week 4 - Sept. 26)

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Felix Brozyna-Vilim

Jake Cavano

Matt Farmer

Eric Goldenberg

Michael Graner

Jack Grover

Luke Henriksson

Kent Inoue

Max Irving

Bailey Jarvis

Matthew Kacura

Peter Lovas

Ashworth Molthen

Quinten Osborne

Raphael Raede

Ryder Roberts

Alex Roelse

Danny Roland

Austin Rone

Evan Rosenfeld

Morio Saito

Nicolas Saveljic

Warren Snyder

David Stiling

Chasen Travisano

James Vlachonassios

Alex Wolf

Related Videos