No. 1 UCLA Doubles Up No. 13 UC Irvine, 12-6

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LOS ANGELES -- No. 1 UCLA (5-0, 0-0 MPSF) remains undefeated on the year after doubling up visiting and 13th-ranked UC Irvine, 12-6, on Friday night in the Bruins' home opener at Dirks Pool at Spieker Aquatics Center. It marked the first UCLA men's water polo game with fans at home in 670 days.

With the win over the Anteaters, UCLA improved to 79-60-1 in the 140th meeting all-time between the two schools.

Redshirt senior center Felix Brozyna-Vilim led the UCLA's offense with a hat trick. He also drew three exclusions. Sophomore utility Guillermo Ocasio (two goals and two assists) and junior attacker Tommy Gruwell (four assists) paced the Bruin offense with four points apiece.

Sophomore goalkeeper Garret Griggs got the start in the cage and went the distance, recording 12 saves and one steal while allowing six goals.

PERIOD ONE
> Casey Lynton gave UC Irvine a 1-0 lead with a goal from the front court (4:36).
> The Bruins tied it at 1-1 with a power play goal from Brozyna-Vilim (1:25).
> That score would hold the rest of the way with the teams tied at 1-1 at the end of the first period.
 
PERIOD TWO
> The Anteaters reclaimed the lead at 2-1 with a goal at even strength by Tyler Padua (7:07).
> After four minutes of scoreless play, UCLA got the equalizer from redshirt sophomore utility Giorgio Alessandria, who scored on a 6-on-5 opportunity (3:12).
> UCLA would take its first lead of the game at 3-2 with 30 seconds left to put the Bruins up at the half.  
 
PERIOD THREE
> After Lynton tied the game at 3-3 to open the scoring in the third for UCI, the Bruins answered with back-to-back goals to lead 5-3. The first was from Jake Cavano (7:20) and a second power play goal from Brozyna-Vilim (6:58).
> Lynton completed his hat trick for UCI (6:30) before Alessandria tallied his second power play score (5:11). Then Brozyna-Vilim completed his hat trick on another power play (3:47) to extend the lead to 7-4.
> A fourth goal for Lynton (3:12) was followed by sophomore utility Guillermo Ocasio's first goal for UCLA (2:49) and a second score from Cavano (0:49) as the Bruins pulled ahead, 9-5, heading into the final stanza.
 
PERIOD FOUR
> UCLA outscored the Anteaters, 3-1, in the final quarter.
> Junior attacker Andy Rodgers delivered a power play goal (5:30) to open the scoring in the fourth.
> After a goal by UCI made it 10-6 (2:58), the Bruins got a second goal from Rodgers (2:44) and a second score from Ocasio at the buzzer (0:01) to provide the 12-6 final.

UP NEXT
UCLA heads to Claremont, Calif., to compete in the Inland Empire Classic where they will square off with No. 8 UC San Diego (11:40 a.m. PT) and No. 19 Pomona-Pitzer (4:00 p.m. PT) on Saturday, Sept. 11 at Matt M. Axelrood Pool.

No. 1 UCLA vs. No. 13 UC Irvine (Home opener)

6x5 - UCLA - 7/13 - UCI - 2/5
Penalties - UCLA - 0/3 - UCI - 0/0

UCI Goals: Casey Lynton 4, Tyler Padua 1, Dylan Patist 1
UCI Saves: Harrison Land 9

UCLA Goals: Felix Brozyna-Vilim 3, Jake Cavano 2, Andy Rodgers 2, Guillermo Ocasio 2, Giorgio Alessandria 2, Chase Dodd 1
UCLA Saves: Garret Griggs 12