FanPost

Sunday Olympic Sports - Men's Water Polo Defending NorCal Title - Day 2

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Tournament: Kap7 NorCal Invitational

Opponent 1: #4 California (7-0)

When: 10:50 AM PDT, Sunday, September 20, 2015

Opponent 2: TBD

When: TBD

Where: Avery Pool, Palo Alto, CA

Audio: None

Video: None

Live Stats: None

Official Match Preview

Official Kap7 NorCal Invitational Guide

The #1 Bruins (7-0) handily defeated both opponents yesterday in the opening rounds of the NorCal Tournament. Their reward is a semifinal game against the #4 California Golden Bears (7-0) this morning. If UCLA can get past Cal, the Bruins will play the winner of the other semifinal (#2 Southern Cal vs. #3 Stanford) in the tournament championship game at 6:15 PM PDT.

The Bruins obliterated Chapman in the tournament opener, 24-3. UCLA started freshman goalkeeper Alex Wolf between the posts, and relied on its deep bench to deliver the victory. Wolf went the distance, registering 10 saves and allowing just three goals--all power play goals.

Freshman Spencer Farrar led the Bruins in scoring with five goals. Junior Ryder Roberts and sophomore James Robinson each found the back of the net four times. Max Staresinic added a hat trick, while junior Alec Zwaneveld and redshirt freshman Austin Rone each notched a brace.

The win extended UCLA's 2015 winning streak to six, and advanced the Bruins to the tournament quarterfinals--an afternoon encounter with ninth-seeded Pepperdine.

Although the Bruins were less impressive against the Waves, they got the job done against one of the nation's better teams. UCLA built a 6-1 halftime lead and then coasted to a 12-6 final score.

Junior defender Chancellor Ramirez was one of four Bruins to tally a brace against Pepperdine. He was joined by Ryder Roberts, junior Patrick Fellner, and junior All-American Gordon Marshall.

Junior All-American goalkeeper Garrett Danner started in the cage for UCLA and collected nine saves in three quarters of action. Alex Wolf played the final quarter in goal.

Pepperdine is a strong team, but Cal represents a step up in class. The Golden Bears are a water polo powerhouse; this will be the Bruins' introduction to elite competition in 2015, and it effectively marks the beginning of UCLA's national title defense. It promises to be a fantastic game.

Go BRUINS!

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of BruinsNation's (BN) editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of BN's editors.

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