No. 2 UCLA Begins 2019 at Navy Open

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

LOS ANGELES – No. 2 UCLA (0-0, 0-0 MPSF) opens the 2019 season at the Navy Open in Annapolis, Md., this weekend and will face Fordham on Saturday, Sept. 7 at 8:30 a.m. PT at Lejeune Hall (the site for all four games involving UCLA). The Bruins will conclude day one with No. 12 Princeton at 12:15 p.m. PT. The Bruins will open Sunday, Sept. 8 with the hosts, Navy (RV), at 6:15 a.m. PT and the match will be live-streamed. UCLA will conclude tournament play with La Salle at 10:00 a.m. PT. The tournament is free to the public, however, it is a military installation so only active and former military may drive onto the Yard (campus). There is parking in downtown Annapolis that is available to fans, which will need to enter the civilian gate (Gate 1) with valid ID. The primary facility that Navy will be using for the water polo tournament this weekend is Lejeune Hall. It is directly across the street from Gate 1.

SCHEDULE AT A GLANCE
Saturday, September 7 (Navy Open – Lejeune Hall)
8:30 AM PT – No. 2 UCLA vs. Fordham
12:15 PM PT – No. 2 UCLA vs. No. 12 Princeton

Sunday, September 8 (Navy Open – Lejeune Hall)
6:15 AM PT – No. 2 UCLA vs. Navy (RV) (LIVE STREAM)
10:00 AM PT – No. 2 UCLA vs. La Salle

SERIES HISTORY
This is just the third meeting all-time between UCLA and Fordham with the Bruins holding a 2-0 lead in the series. The last time the two teams met, UCLA posted a 22-0 shutout in the opening game of the Princeton Invitational on Sept. 8, 2012. The only other meeting was in 1980 with the Bruins picking up a 17-2 victory.

UCLA leads the all-time series with the Princeton Tigers, 14-0. Last year the Bruins posted a 17-5 win at Princeton on Sept. 9 in the final game of the Princeton Invitational. The Bruins have faced the Tigers at Princeton in each of the last three years, winning by a combined score of 49-22.

The Bruins lead the all-time series with Navy, 15-0. UCLA hasn't faced the Midshipmen since 2004 when the Bruins posted an 8-3 win on Oct. 2 at the NorCal Tournament.

The 2019 season is La Salle's fourth year in program history. In addition to UCLA and La Salle meeting for the first time this weekend, the game will also mark the Explorers' first top-10 opponent that La Salle has ever faced.

UCLA 2019 OUTLOOK
UCLA returns five starters for the 2019 season and all five were All-Americans in 2018. Redshirt senior goalkeeper Alex Wolf and junior attacker Nicolas Saveljic headline UCLA's veteran group as both were named first team All-Americans for the first time in their careers a year ago. Wolf, who spent the entire summer with the USA Senior Men's National Team, was also named First Team All-NCAA Tournament, First Team All-MPSF, and MPSF All-Tournament Team in 2018. He led the MPSF in goals against average (6.79) and was second in saves per game (11.05). Saveljic was also named Second Team All-MPSF, and MPSF All-Tournament Team. He finished ninth in the MPSF in scoring (led the team) with 51 goals (1.82 gpg) and also led the Bruins in steals with 24 and in sprints won (23-8).

The Bruins also return three other starters in junior utility Evan Rosenfeld and sophomore attackers Jake Cavano and Ashworth Molthen. Rosenfeld was the only Bruin named second team All-American. He was also named Second Team All-NCAA Tournament and Second Team All-MPSF. He was tied for 9th on the team in scoring with 13 goals. He was seventh on the squad in steals (14) and was third on the team in both exclusions drawn (17) and penalties drawn (three). Cavano was the only third team All-American for UCLA in 2018. He was also named Honorable Mention All-MPSF after finishing 10th in the MPSF and tied for third on the team in scoring with 32 goals (1.78 gpg). He only played in 18 games (missed 10 games on the year), but he scored in 17 of those contests, including in a team-best 12 in a row. Despite the missed contests, he still finished third on the team in steals (18). Molthen ranked 21st in the MPSF and third on the team in scoring with 32 goals (1.14 gpg). He also led the Bruins in assists (37) and field blocks (15) while finishing second in steals (19).

Also returning in 2019 and vying for more playing time is junior utility Felix Brozyna-Vilim (31 goals), junior attacker Chasen Travisano (21 goals), sophomore attacker Matthew Kacura (13 goals), redshirt sophomore defender Bailey Jarvis (10 goals), and sophomore attacker Michael Graner (eight goals).

Arriving in Westwood this season and looking to make an immediate impact is Gabe Discipulo (6-3, CTR, Santa Cruz, Calif.), Tommy Gruwell (6-4, ATK, San Diego, Calif.), and Bernardo Maurizi (6-2, GK, Florence, Italy).

The Bruins lost starters David Stiling (graduation) and Quinten Osborne (transfer), both of whom were honorable mention All-Americans. Osborne was also named honorable mention All-MPSF while ranking 16th in the MPSF and second on the team in scoring with 39 goals (1.39 gpg). He led the Bruins in exclusions drawn (73) and penalties drawn (five) and was tied for fifth in field blocks (nine). Stiling was also named honorable mention All-MPSF, finishing the season with 10 goals, nine steals, seven exclusions drawn, and seven field blocks.

UCLA 100
UCLA will celebrate its first 100 years with a year-long university-wide Centennial Celebration. UCLA Athletics has several Centennial Celebration plans and giveaways in store for designated home events, including a set of 13 Centennial Pins highlighting each sport, as well as a souvenir mosaic poster that features personal photos submitted by UCLA fans. UCLA men's water polo's Centennial game will take place on Oct. 4 at 7:00 p.m. PT against Long Beach State.

UCLA IS NO. 1
For the third consecutive year UCLA has been selected as the No. 1 public institution in the nation in the Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education College Rankings. In addition, of the more than 800 public and private institutions that were assessed, UCLA placed fifth among all public and private colleges in the area of environment, No. 11 overall in the engagement category, No. 16 in terms of outcomes, and No. 25 overall. The rankings focus on student success and learning in four key areas: student resources, student engagement, educational outcomes and learning environments. The results are based on data from the Times Higher Education U.S. Student Survey, which collected the opinions of more than 170,000 current university students, government data sources and findings from the Times Higher Education Academic Reputation Survey.

UCLA consistently performs well in multiple rankings regardless of methodology or criteria. In 2018, UCLA was named the No. 1 U.S. public university in both the U.S. News & World Report's Best Colleges ranking and Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education survey. UCLA was also named the No. 2 U.S. public university (17 overall) by Times Higher Education in its 2019 World University Rankings and No. 2 (No. 9 overall) in its 2019 World Reputation Rankings.

FRESH FACES
UCLA welcomes in 10 true freshmen for the 2019 season that will join the six redshirt freshmen on the 29-man roster, comprising a total of 16 freshmen (or 55.2 percent of the team). The team also includes seven sophomores, five juniors and one senior (13 student-athletes in those three classes combined). Of the 16 freshmen on the roster, 13 of them have earned a cap and will be competing for playing time in 2019 with three of them (Giorgio Alessandria, Chase Honaker and Jack Larsen) slated to redshirt the season. Here's a look at the 13 freshmen that have earned a cap number and will be looking to make an immediate impact for the Bruins.

2	Will Morgan	ATK	6-1	R-Fr.	Pebble Beach, Calif. / Stevenson School
9	Brock Petersen	ATK	6-2	R-Fr.	Dana Point, Calif. / Santa Margarita Catholic HS
10	Ryan Sawyer	ATK	6-1	R-Fr.	Palm Desert, Calif. / Palm Desert HS
18	Henry Wilde	ATK	6-3	R-Fr.	Newport Beach, Calif. / Corona del Mar HS
20	Tega Cheishvili	DEF	6-2	R-Fr.	Tbilisi, Georgia / Tbilisi American High School
25	Chase Petersen	DEF	6-1	R-Fr.	Dana Point, Calif. / Santa Margarita Catholic HS
1A	Bernardo Maurizi	GK	6-2	Fr.	Florence, Italy / Salesiani Firenze
3	Gabe Discipulo	CTR	6-3	Fr.	Santa Cruz, Calif. / Bellarmine College Preparatory
6	Andy Rodgers	ATK	6-2	Fr.	Coronado, Calif. / Coronado HS
7	Jack White	ATK	6-1	Fr.	Newport Beach, Calif. / Newport Harbor HS
8	Cameron Reagan	DEF/UTL	6-2	Fr.	Huntington Beach, Calif. / Mater Dei HS
14	Max Berg	ATK	5-10	Fr.	Seal Beach, Calif. / Long Beach Wilson HS
24	Tommy Gruwell	ATK	6-4	Fr.	San Diego, Calif. / Cathedral Catholic HS

COACH/STAFF CHANGES
During the offseason, UCLA men's water polo hired Bret Lathrope to the post of assistant coach (replacing Jack Grover) and has added Michael Hull to the post of Director of Operations for men's and women's water polo. These changes are following the 2017 promotion of Jason Falitz to associate head coach.

THE WRIGHT STUFF
Adam Wright is in his 11th season as UCLA's head men's water polo coach in 2019 with an overall record of 250-42 (.856) and an MPSF mark of 52-14 (.788). 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. Wright was inducted into the USA Water Polo Hall of Fame on June 20, 2019.

RECAPPING 2018
Overall Record: 23-5 | Final Ranking: 3rd | NCAA Finish: T-3rd | MPSF Tournament Finish: 3rd

The Bruins finished the season with third-place finishes at both the MPSF and NCAA Championships. UCLA's team had a school-record 11 student-athletes earn MPSF All-Academic accolades, while eight Bruins also earned All-America acclaim (headlined by first-team selections Alex Wolf and Nicolas Saveljic). Evan Rosenfeld picked up second-team All-America honors, while freshman Jake Cavano was named a third-team honoree. Securing honorable mention All-America honors were freshmen Danny Roland and Ashworth Molthen, as well as senior David Stiling and sophomore Quinten Osborne. Bruins' head coach Adam Wright was also inducted into the USA Water Polo Hall of Fame.

POLLING THE BRUINS
UCLA, which finished third in the MPSF and NCAA Championships last year, opens the season tied for second in the preseason CWPA National Men's Varsity Top 20 Poll (92 points), released on Aug. 21.

2019 MEN'S VARSITY TOP 20 (Preseason - Aug. 21)
Rank	Team	Final 2018 Poll	Points
1	USC	1	98
2 (T)	UCLA	3	92
2 (T)	Stanford	2	92
4	California	4	87
5 (T)	Pacific	8	74
5 (T)	Long Beach State	6	74
7 (T)	UC Santa Barbara	7	68
7 (T)	Pepperdine	9	68
9	UC San Diego	5	66
10	UC Davis	10	54
11	Harvard	14	45
12	Princeton	13	44
13	UC Irvine	15	36
14	Loyola Marymount	12	33
15	George Washington	11	29
16 (T)	Bucknell	18	20
16 (T)	Cal Baptist	16	20
18	San José State	RV	15
19	Pomona-Pitzer	17	14
20	Brown	RV	9
RV	Santa Clara	19	7
RV	Navy	NR	5
RV	St. Francis College Brooklyn	20	4

Recent Results

Upcoming Events

No. 2 UCLA Begins 2019 at Navy Open

2019 MEN'S VARSITY TOP 20 (Preseason - Aug. 21)

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Giorgio Alessandria

Max Berg

Felix Brozyna-Vilim

Jake Cavano

Tega Cheishvili

Gabe Discipulo

Michael Graner

Jack Grover

Tommy Gruwell

Chase Honaker

Bailey Jarvis

Matthew Kacura

Jack Larsen

Bernardo Maurizi

Ashworth Molthen

Will Morgan

Quinten Osborne

Brock Petersen

Chase Petersen

Cameron Reagan

Andy Rodgers

Danny Roland

Evan Rosenfeld

Nicolas Saveljic

Ryan Sawyer

David Stiling

Chasen Travisano

Jack White

Henry Wilde

Alex Wolf

University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics

No. 2 UCLA Begins 2019 at Navy Open

2019 MEN'S VARSITY TOP 20 (Preseason - Aug. 21)

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Giorgio Alessandria

Max Berg

Felix Brozyna-Vilim

Jake Cavano

Tega Cheishvili

Gabe Discipulo

Michael Graner

Jack Grover

Tommy Gruwell

Chase Honaker

Bailey Jarvis

Matthew Kacura

Jack Larsen

Bernardo Maurizi

Ashworth Molthen

Will Morgan

Quinten Osborne

Brock Petersen

Chase Petersen

Cameron Reagan

Andy Rodgers

Danny Roland

Evan Rosenfeld

Nicolas Saveljic

Ryan Sawyer

David Stiling

Chasen Travisano

Jack White

Henry Wilde

Alex Wolf

Related Videos