Men’s Water Polo: #2 UCLA Beats #5 UCI, 9-6

WESTWOOD, Calif., November 3. UCLA'S second-ranked Bruin men's water polo squad returned to the friendly confines of their Sunset Canyon Recreation Center Pool Saturday afternoon with a 9-6 MPSF win over fifth-ranked UC Irvine.

UCLA improves to 10-6 on the season and 2-3 in Mountain Pacific Sports Federation action, while the Anteaters drop to 11-7, 2-3 in conference play.

The Anteaters got on the scoreboard first with a Dreason Barry goal at the 5:53 mark. However, it would prove to be UC's only lead of the contest, as the Bruins countered with a Matt Flesher goal at with 4:43 left in the first. Center Ted Peck scored UCLA's next two goals and the home team built a 3-2 lead heading into the second quarter.

UCLA continued pulling away in the second period, shutting out the Anteaters in the quarter and scoring two goals.

The Anteaters struck in the first minute of the second half on a Dan Noon score. The Bruins' leading scorer, sophomore driver Brett Ormsby, got into the action in the period, scoring two of his game-high four goals to give UCLA a 7-4 lead heading into the final period.

Another Flesher goal stretched the Bruin lead to four with 5:17 left in the game. However, the Anteaters would not quit, rattling off two consecutive Jeff Powers goals to come within two scores with less than a minute remaining. Ormsby sealed the Bruin victory with the game's final goal with 29 second left on the clock. Behind Ormsby, Peck and Flesher scored twice, while Peter Belden found the back of the net as well.

The Bruins will return to Sunset Canyon Recreation Center on Friday, Nov. 8 for a 3 PM PST MPSF face-off against Long Beach State.

BOX SCORE

1-2-3-4=Final

UC Irvine 2-0-2-2= 6
UCLA 3-2-2-2= 9

UCI – Barry (3), Powers (2), Noon
UCLA – Ormsby (4), Peck (2), Flesher (2), Belden

Goalkeepers
UCI: Finfrock (3 saves, 9 GA),
UCLA: Brooks (8 saves, 6 GA)

Shots – UCI 23, UCLA 22

Name*

Email*

Welcome to our community. We invite you to join our discussion. Our community guidelines are simple: be respectful and constructive, keep on topic, and support your fellow commenters. Commenting signifies that you agree to our Terms of Use