UCLA Men’s Water Polo Set to Co-Host SoCal Invitational

This afternoon, the UCLA men’s water polo team begins play in the SoCal Invitational, which the Bruins are co-hosting with Loyola Marymount. UCLA (6-0) will open play in game one against the Pomona-Pitzer Sagehens (5-2) at 1 pm PT.

Last Time Out

Last Saturday, the Bruins visited Pepperdine and, as expected, it was a hard-fought battle.

Pepperdine started off the game with three consecutive goals. UCLA finally responded with a pair of goals by Tommy Gruwell and Cameron Reagan to cut the lead to 3-2, but the Waves finished the quarter with two more goals to push their lead back to three points.

Chasen Travisano and Ashworth Molthen started the scoring in the second. First, Travisano cut it to 5-3 and then Molthen netted a pair to tie it up. Gruwell’s second goal gave the Bruins their first lead, but the Waves responded with 41 seconds left in the half. Then, with 11 seconds left, Nicolas Saveljic put the Bruins up 7-6 at the half.

Jake Cavano opened the scoring in the second half. Saveljic’s second goal of the game put the Bruins up 9-6 and Cavano’s second made it 10-6. Pepperdine kept it close, though, while Molthen and Saveljic added another two goals for the Bruins and it was 12-9 after three.

Felix Brozyna-Vilim scored what would be the game-winner with 6:06 left. But, the Waves fought back and cut the lead to 13-11 before Saveljic scored his fourth goal of the game to finish the scoring for the Bruins with 9 seconds left. A last-second goal from the Waves made it a 14-12 final.

Pomona-Pitzer Sagehens

This afternoon’s opponent has a decent record. Unfortunately, none of the Sagehens’ wins were very impressive. Their toughest opponent so far has been Pepperdine and they lost that game, 13-7.

As a result, today’s SoCal Invitational matchup looks to be a complete mismatch. Look for a UCLA win by at least 10 points.

This is your UCLA men’s water polo SoCal Invitational open thread.


Go Bruins!!!