This post was updated Sept. 25 at 12:32 a.m.

Most collegiate sports don’t offer the luxury of midseason hardware.

Despite winning the Overnght MPSF Invitational for the third straight year on Sunday at Spieker Aquatics Center – with nine regular season matches left – No. 1 UCLA men’s water polo (14-0) appear far more focused on the campaign ahead.

UCLA took down Redlands (1-11) – a Division III program – 25-6 Friday, before beating No. 11 UC Davis (5-6) 19-12 and No. 4 Stanford (6-2) 13-12 on Saturday to advance to the title match – where it defeated No. 3 California (10-1) 11-9 on Sunday.

“It’s a good place to start, but it’s a long season, and we really have to hone in on our details,” said sophomore attacker Ryder Dodd, who scored five goals Sunday and 13 across the tournament. “We’re starting pretty slow right now. … We’ve been going down in the first quarter against good teams.”

To Dodd’s point, the Bruins trailed by as many as three goals against the Cardinal throughout the match and didn’t hold a lead until redshirt junior attacker Frederico Jucá Carsalade scored the game-winner with 1:14 left in the fourth quarter.

UCLA outscored Stanford 5-2 in the final frame, something coach Adam Wright attributed to Dodd.

“Ryder’s communication in the fourth quarter – he’s leading and directing the group,” Wright said. “If we can have that for four quarters, then we’re really tough. … You got to give them credit for being gritty and finding a way to get themselves back in the game and finish.”

The Golden Bears jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the title match, but redshirt senior attacker Chase Dodd – who finished the match with a hat trick – gave the Bruins a 7-6 lead with 3:33 remaining in the third.

Redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Nate Tauscher made 30 saves and allowed 30 goals throughout the invitational, with his best performance coming in Sunday’s title match, where he put up 11 saves to just nine goals allowed.

But Tauscher echoed Ryder Dodd’s sentiment and said the Bruins need to start games with more defensive intensity, adding that the team needs to improve its communication.

Wright added that the Bruins must improve their field blocking to lighten Tauscher’s load and limit opponents’ opportunities at clean shots.

Although the Bruins remained critical of their performance, they limited attacker Beso Akhvlediani – who is the Golden Bears’ leading scorer with 31 goals this year – to a 0-for-2 performance, the freshman’s first goose egg through 11 collegiate matches.

Though an invitation trophy may not be the grandest honor for reigning national champions, Wright said he was ultimately proud of how his team responded to a rigorous week in and out of the pool, adding that someone close to the program – whom he declined to name – had recently died.

“It was tough on the team and obviously tough on one of our players,” Wright said. “The guys were pretty resilient. We didn’t play our best water polo, but to find a way to win in tough circumstances says a lot.”

While this weekend’s outcomes hold little over future encounters, the Bruins will face both the Cardinal and Golden Bears two more times each in the regular season and up to four times total when factoring in the playoffs.

Regardless, there seems to be little fear in Westwood.

“I believe in our group,” Wright said. “How could you not?”