Two close calls later, the Bruins are still undefeated.

No. 1 UCLA men’s water polo (12-0) will continue its perfect campaign with a home matchup against No. 5 Fordham (9-0) Friday evening at Spieker Aquatics Center before hitting the road to take on No. 11 Pepperdine (6-8) Saturday afternoon at Raleigh Runnels Memorial Pool in Malibu.

The Bruins are coming off their fourth-straight Overnght MPSF Invitational title. Their tournament run began with a 19-point victory over Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (1-9) and an eight-point win against No. 9 UC San Diego (9-4). In the semifinal and final matches, UCLA scraped past No. 4 California (8-2) and No. 3 Stanford (8-1), respectively, by scores of 11-10 both times.

“It’s definitely a tough task to deal with different types of teams,” said senior attacker Wade Sherlock. “But I feel like we adhered to our details, and it put us in a good position at the end to stay out on top.”

The Bruins and the Cardinal tied 5-5 at halftime and were even again at 10-10 in the final moments, until freshman utility Luka Gladović scored the match-winning goal with one second remaining for his fourth hat trick of the season. He was named the MPSF West/S&R Sport Newcomer of the Week on Monday for his performance throughout the weekend, making him the first Bruin to win the honor in 2026.

“It just comes on the defense because they had a couple timeouts, and it was crucial for us to get stops,” said junior attacker Bode Brinkema. “That’s something that takes repetition, and for us to make stops in those crucial moments, it’s huge because later in the season, that will be very important.”

Senior goalkeeper Nate Tauscher tallied 11 saves in the final game, marking his season high and first double-digit performance of the 2026 campaign.

Getting to that final match was also a tall task. Although UCLA had an 8-3 advantage at the break against Cal, a 4-1 third quarter in favor of the Golden Bears narrowed the lead. The Bruins ultimately came out on top by one point after a missed shot by attacker Beso Akhvlediani.

“We have to understand that if we can put four quarters together, then that’ll put us in a much better situation,” said coach Adam Wright.

Fourteen players scored in UCLA’s blowout over Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, with six scoring more than once and two achieving hat tricks. Across the invitational, 19 Bruins found the back of the net. Gladović led the squad with nine goals, with junior attacker Ryder Dodd close behind with eight.

“This time of the year, we’re using a lot of different players, a lot of new players, a lot of guys that just came in,” Wright said. “For us, everything is a learning moment.”

After emerging successful from a pair of narrow outings against top-five opponents, UCLA will return home to face another top-five opponent in Fordham, which also boasts an undefeated record. Fordham has won its games against top-15 opponents by an average margin of three, compared to UCLA’s 4.25.

The Rams are headlined by attacker Andras Toth, who set the program’s single-season record for goals scored with 134 last year as a sophomore. The ACWPC All-America First Team honoree notched a hat trick in last year’s match against UCLA.

The Bruins will be back on the road following the Fordham contest, though they will remain in Southern California to play their next opponent. Pepperdine is 2-8 against ranked teams, though they are fresh off a five-point win against No. 14 UC Santa Barbara.

Although the Waves lost their leading goal scorer from 2025 – ACWPC All-American Honorable Mention center Matty Walsh – they retained their second-highest goal scorer, attacker Erik Ionescu. The 2025 ACWPC All-American Second Teamer is shooting at a .522 clip on the season so far, compared to last year’s mark of .413. Additionally, he has already racked up 14 steals, just one fewer than his total last season of 15.

Despite the Bruins’ unbeaten record, Wright said his squad still has work to do.

“We’re not close to where we can be, and we have to keep pushing,” he said. “It’s a great start, but the reality is we can grow so much more.”