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Men’s water polo falls to Stanford, ending run as last undefeated top-10 team

Freshman attacker Andy Rodgers scored No. 2 UCLA’s lone goal of the second quarter in its 13-9 defeat to No. 3 Stanford. (Joy Hong/Daily Bruin senior staff)

Men's Water Polo


No. 3 Stanford13
No. 2 UCLA9

By Jason Maikis

Sept. 29, 2019 5:33 p.m.

This post was updated Sept. 29 at 11:25 p.m. 

The Bruins dropped their first game of the season.

No. 2 UCLA men’s water polo (9-1) lost to No. 3 Stanford (10-1) 13-9 in the final of the SoCal Invitational on Sunday, ending its time as the last undefeated top-10 team. The Cardinal led the entire game, never letting the Bruins come closer than two goals in the second half.

“Stanford – in every aspect of the game – dominated us,” said coach Adam Wright. “We were panicking, but we had a lot of guys who were in this situation for the first time. This showed us we’re not close to where we need to be, and we can learn from this game and be better prepared for the next time.”

UCLA posted a single-digit score for the second straight game after their narrow 9-8 defeat of UC Santa Barbara in the invitational’s semifinals. Five of UCLA’s goals against Stanford came in the third quarter, with the rest of the game’s dry spell leading to a .290 shooting percentage on 31 shots.

Junior utility Felix Brozyna-Vilim said the team needed to be more aggressive when looking to score, so its execution and offensive system could have followed through with putting balls in the back of the net.

“Every pass, every touch, we have to look at the goal and be a threat to score,” Brozyna-Vilim said. “We have to go back and see what the issues were, what they did to give us some trouble on offense and adjust the way we executed today.”

The match started slowly for both teams. A penalty shot by junior Tyler Abramson gave Stanford the opening lead, and a power play score from UCLA freshman attacker Andy Rodgers ended the scoring in the opening period, bringing the tally to 3-2 at the end of the first.

Stanford outscored its conference foe four to one in the second period, with UCLA’s only goal coming after more than seven of the eight minutes had elapsed.

“We stayed static and didn’t move enough,” Rodgers said. “(Wright) told us that our game plan was to move against their press, and they would try to physically impose themselves on us. We played into their game plan, which is a big reason we didn’t come out on top.”

However, UCLA started to find its footing in the third quarter. After Abramson extended the Cardinal lead to five goals, the Bruins scored five of the next seven goals.

Sophomore attacker Ashworth Molthen scored the second of his team-leading three goals with 59 seconds left in the third quarter – cutting the Bruin deficit to two goals, 10-8.

But Stanford was able to take control once again in the fourth, limiting UCLA to just one score for the second quarter of the day.

In a last surge, Molthen slung home the Bruins’ lone score in the period to cut the score to 12-9 with 5:15 left to play. However, Stanford answered on the very next possession, pushing its lead to 13-9 – where it would remain for the final 4:54 of the game.

The Bruins’ scoring pains came in part from their inability to convert six-on-five opportunities, said Wright. UCLA drew 14 exclusions, led by three from Brozyna-Vilim, but only scored four goals in its chances with a man advantage.

“At some point, it would make our lives easier if we could get off to a better start with our six-on-fives,” Wright said. “We’re creating opportunities, but need better execution. We didn’t attack at all, it was just passing and shooting with defenders arriving, which won’t be successful.”

UCLA will take on Long Beach State on Oct. 4 as it returns to non-tournament play.

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Jason Maikis | Alumnus
Maikis joined the Bruin as a freshman in 2018 and contributed until 2019. He was an assistant Sports editor in 2019 and contributed for the football, men's basketball, men's tennis, women's tennis and men's water polo beats.
Maikis joined the Bruin as a freshman in 2018 and contributed until 2019. He was an assistant Sports editor in 2019 and contributed for the football, men's basketball, men's tennis, women's tennis and men's water polo beats.
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