UCLA
26-2
California
22-5
Bruins Fall in NCAA Championship Game, 13-11
December 03, 2023 | Men's Water Polo
LOS ANGELES โย Top-seeded UCLA (26-3) fell short in the NCAA Championship game to the three-time defending champs, No. 2 California (24-5), 13-11, on Sunday afternoon at USC's Uytengsu Aquatics Center. The Bruins fell to 93-77-1ย all-time in the series history against the Golden Bears. Despite the loss, UCLA finished the season with the best record in the country and with a winning record over USC (3-1), Cal (3-1), and Stanford (2-1).
The Bruins had six players score in the contest, led by a hat trick from senior Rafael Real Vergara. Redshirt freshman Frederico Jucá Carsalade, freshman Ben Liechty and senior Makoto Kenney added two scores. Kenney was the leading scorer for the Bruins, scoring two goals and three assists for a total of five points.
Senior Garret Griggsย got the start in the cage and went the distance, tallying nine saves while allowing 13ย goals.
UCLA got on the board first with a goal at two meters from freshman Marcell Szécsi (6:45) off a nice feed from senior Giorgio Alessandria. The Golden Bears responded with a power play goal (6:03) to tie the game at 1-1. California would score three straight power play goals to take a 3-1 lead (2:13 and 1:11). The Bruins would respond with a penalty shot conversion byย Real Vergara (0:58) that was drawn by Szécsi to cut the deficit to 3-2. But the Golden Bears ended the scoring in the first on a penalty shot (0:45) to take a 4-2 lead into the second period.
California scored the first two goals of the second quarter (7:39 and 6:13), both on power plays, to build a 6-2 lead. Liechty scored a power play goal off an assist fromย Kenney (5:36) to trim Cal's lead to 6-3. Another power play goal from Cal followed (3:52), but Kenney answered it with a power play strike (3:23) to make it 7-4. UCLA scored back-to-back goals for the first time in the game when Frederico Jucá Carsalade scored a power play goal (1:43) off an assist from Kenney to cut it to a two-goal deficit at 7-5. Cal got its first goal of the game at even strength (1:15) to push the lead to 8-5. Another power play goal by the Golden Bears (0:27) stretched their lead to 9-5. UCLA ended the scoring in the second quarter with a power play strike from Real Vergara, his second of the game with 0:02 remaining, to make it 9-6.
The Golden Bears opened the scoring in the third with three straight goals (6:14, 5:34, 4:54) to build a 12-6 advantage. Liechty would score his second of the game on a power play off a feed from senior Jack Larsen (4:30) and Real Vergara would complete his hat trick on a power play feed from Larsen (3:20) to make it 12-8. Then Kenney hit senior Giorgio Alessandria for a power play score (0:52) to make it 12-9 heading into the final stanza.
The Bruins opened the scoring in the fourth quarter when Jucáย Carsalade scored on a counter off a nice feed from Larsen (5:36) to make it 12-10. But Cal stopped UCLA's four-goal scoring streak with a shot from the front court (5:09) to extend its lead to 13-10. Kenney would score his second on a backhanded shot off an assist from Larsen (3:19) to make it a two-goal game at 13-11. The Bruins had many chances down the stretch, but Cal's defense stepped up to seal the win.
No. 2 California vs. No. 3 UCLA (NCAA Championship - Finalsย - Game 29)
|
SCOREBOARD |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
FINAL |
|
No. 2 California |
4 |
5 |
3 |
1 |
13 |
|
No. 3 UCLA |
2 |
4 |
3 |
2 |
11 |
6x5 -ย UCLA - 7/16 - CAL - 8/19
Penalties -ย UCLA - 1/1 - CAL - 2/2
CAL Goals:ย Max Casabella 5, Roberto Valera 4, Nikolaos Papanikolaouย 2, Garrett Dunn 1, Nik Mirkovic 1
CAL Saves:ย Adrian Weinberg 12
UCLA Goals:ย Rafael Real Vergara 3, Ben Liechty 2, Frederico Jucá Carsalade 2, Makoto Kenney 2, Giorgio Alessandria 1, Marcell Szécsiย 1
UCLA Saves:ย Garret Griggs 9
Team Stats
Marcell Szรฉcsi
6:45
Garrett Dunn
6:03
Roberto Valera
2:13
Roberto Valera
1:11
Rafael Real Vergara
0:58
Max Casabella
0:45
Nikolaos Papanikolaou
7:39
Max Casabella
6:13
Ben Liechty
5:36
Nikolaos Papanikolaou
3:52
Makoto Kenney
3:23
Frederico Jucรก Carsalade
1:43
Roberto Valera
1:15
Max Casabella
0:27
Rafael Real Vergara
0:02
Nik Mirkovic
6:14
Max Casabella
5:34
Roberto Valera
4:54
Ben Liechty
4:20
Rafael Real Vergara
3:20
Giorgio Alessandria
0:52
Frederico Jucรก Carsalade
5:36
Max Casabella
5:09
Makoto Kenney
3:19
