UCLA legend John Wooden said, “Failure isn’t fatal, but failure to change might be.”

And the Bruins’ first loss of the season did not stop them from getting right back to the win column the next day.

No. 2 UCLA men’s water polo (15-1, 1-1 MPSF) will seek to rebuild its win streak Saturday evening against No. 16 California Baptist (19-4) at Spieker Aquatics Center.

The Bruins’ perfect record was snapped in their conference opener against then-No. 2 Stanford on Oct. 3. The Cardinal, who replaced the Bruins as the No. 1 squad, defeated UCLA 19-15 in what fifth-year attacker Frederico Jucá Carsalade described as a “really bad defensive game.”

Stanford’s 19 goals were the most UCLA conceded since it surrendered 20 to Italian professional club Pro Recco in a 2019 exhibition match. UCLA allowed Stanford to shoot at a 63.3% clip while being held to 44.1% itself. Despite entering the last quarter trailing by just one goal, UCLA gave up seven scores in the final eight minutes while notching just four.

“Some things that were slipping as far as how we operate and decision-making, doing what’s best for the group, finally caught up,” said coach Adam Wright. “We’re still early in the year, and there’s a lot of time, and a lot can happen. But I’m not worried about that. I’m worried about who we want to become.”

By the next game, the Bruins would show who they wanted to become by bouncing back with a 13-11 win over the No. 4 Golden Bears. UCLA took the first matchup between the two squads this season Sept. 19 by one – a margin of victory it doubled Sunday.

Despite a scoreless second stanza, the Bruins’ first since the opening round of the MPSF Invite last month, a six-goal third quarter allowed UCLA to enter the final frame with a two-point advantage.

After a back-and-forth start to the quarter, Cal center Ilias Angelopoulos’ goal put the Golden Bears up 10-9 with 3:46 remaining. And when the Bruins needed their leader most, he rose to the occasion.

Junior attacker Ryder Dodd led the Bruins with five scores on 10 attempts, including a pair of crucial back-to-back penalty shots that helped the blue and gold regain a late lead they would not relinquish. As a whole, UCLA limited California to 33.3% shooting and recorded eight steals against Cal’s three.

“A lot of mistakes yesterday, some today,” said senior goalkeeper Nate Tauscher. “We still have a lot of work to go forward.”

Coming away from its conference-opening weekend with its win streak reset to one, UCLA will face nonconference opponent Cal Baptist and its win streak of four.

Cal Baptist swept the Gary Troyer Tournament 4-0 to begin its October slate, with its most recent loss coming against then-No. 4 Fordham on Sept. 28.

“We have four teams that are almost on the same level every year, and we play them a lot of times,” Carsalade said. “Conference games are always really tough. We try to approach every game the same way, no matter if it’s against one of them or any other team in the country.”

Since 2003, Cal Baptist is 0-15 against UCLA. The Bruins took last year’s matchup 21-5.

The Lancers are led by center Rafa Martinez, who earned WCC All-Conference Second Team honors in 2025 and has scored in all but two games this season. Martinez was one of five Lancers to score a goal in last year’s Bruin bout and paces the squad with 48 goals on a .658 clip this time around.

After Cal Baptist, a rivalry matchup against crosstown foe No. 3 USC awaits the Bruins the following weekend.

“The most important thing out of this weekend is we have a lot of information,” Wright said. “We see that we need to change.”