Men’s NCAA Water Polo: #3 UCLA Upsets #2 USC, 7-5

WESTWOOD, Oct. 6. THE sun and the UCLA offense were both shining here this afternoon.

No. 3-ranked Bruin men's water polo team, rebounding from a 10-6 loss to top-ranked Stanford six days ago, took a 4-1 halftime advantage and rolled to a 7-5 victory over crosstown rival and No. 2 ranked USC at the Sunset Canyon Recreation Center pool before 350 fans.

UCLA is now 5-1 overall and 3-0 in Mountain Pacific Sports Federation play. SC, suffering its second-straight defeat — the Trojans lost to Stanford at
homea week ago — are now 3-2 overall and 3-2 in MPSF play.

For the second-consecutive game, UCLA was led by outstanding freshman driver Brett Ormsby, a 6-2, 175-pound scoring machine who connected for a game- and
career-high four goals to help pace the Bruins.

Last week against Stanford, Ormsby tied with Cardinal frosh star Tony Azavedo for high-point honors with three.

The Bruins also capitalized on an outstanding defensive effort by junior All-America Brandon Brooks, who saved a season-high 12 shots, several from point-blank range.

SC scored first on a penalty goal by Daniel Lantay three minutes into the game, but then the Bruins came storming back on a pair of goals by Ormsby and another by senior two-meter man Alfonso Tucay to take a 3-1 lead at the end of the first quarter.

Both teams played stellar defense during the second period and the score stayed 3-1 at halftime.

In the third quarter the Bruins went up 4-1 on Tucay's second goal, but SC cut it to 4-2 on Lantay's zinger. Then the Trojans rallied via a pair of extra-man goals — Lantay's third plus Predrag Damjanov's equalizer with 0.6 left to tie the count at 4.

However, three minutes into the final quarter Trojan Nenad Proporski fouled out, and SC was then whistled for ejections on each of UCLA's next two possessions. Bruins Ormsby plus junior Matt Flesher then connected to put the game out of reach.

Flesher and soph Albert Garcia also had a pair of assists for the victors.

"It was a tough, physical match," Tucay said after-wards. "Everybody was intense, on the same page and that togetherness got us the win."
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