No. 1 UCLA Prevails in a Battle of Undefeated Teams
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LONG BEACH, Calif. -- In a battle of two undefeated teams, it was No. 1 UCLA (8-0, 0-0 MPSF) that rose to meet the challenge in a hostile environment, posting a 9-6 win at No. 6 Long Beach State (8-1, 0-0 GCC) on Friday night at Ken Lindgren Aquatics Center.
With the win over the Beach, UCLA improved to 103-21-1 in the series history.
A total of nine different Bruins scored one goal apiece.
Sophomore goalkeeper Garret Griggs got the start in the cage and went the distance, recording eight saves while allowing six goals.
PERIOD ONE
> Senior center Felix Brozyna-Vilim got the Bruins on the board first when he took a nice feed from junior attacker Tommy Gruwell (6:33) and scored from two meters.
> The defensive battle continued all the way to the 0:13 mark when Rafael Real Vergara scored the equalizer (1-1) with a 6-on-5 goal.
> But the tie was broken just 11 seconds later when the Bruins pulled their goalie as Gruwell dialed up his own number on the 7-on-6 to score just before the buzzer (0:02), giving the Bruins a 2-1 lead that they would never relinquish.
PERIOD TWO
> The Bruins won the second period, 3-1, to build a 5-2 lead at the break.
> Redshirt sophomore attacker Jack Larsen (6:22) and sophomore utility Guillermo Ocasio (4:23) both found the back of the net from the front court to put the Bruins up 4-1.
> Senior attacker/utility Jake Cavano connected on a power play shot (2:03) to end the scoring in the first half.
PERIOD THREE
> UCLA outscored LBSU, 3-2, in the third quarter.
> The Beach scored on their first possession of the second half (7:32) to pull to within two goals (5-3) on a goal by Theodoros Pateros. It would be as close as LBSU would get.
> The Bruins responded with three unanswered goals. Freshman attacker Chase Dodd (7:05) scored on a power play, followed by a power goal from graduate attacker Nicolas Saveljic (6:03), who made his season debut tonight. The final goal in the run by UCLA came from redshirt sophomore utility Giorgio Alessandria (4:19) at set.
PERIOD FOUR
> Long Beach State outscored UCLA 2-1 in the last period to provide the 9-6 final.
> Sophomore attacker Makoto Kenney netted the only goal for the Bruins in the fourth on a power play (4:11) to become the ninth different Bruin to score in the game.
UP NEXT
UCLA finishes off the weekend with a game at No. 5 UC Santa Barbara on Saturday, Sept. 18 at 6:00 p.m. PT.
No. 1 UCLA at No. 6 Long Beach State (Regular season game)
| SCOREBOARD | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | FINAL |
| No. 1 UCLA | 2 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 9 |
| No. 6 LBSU | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 6 |
6x5 - UCLA - 4/8 - LBSU - 1/6
Penalties - UCLA - 0/0 - LBSU - 0/0
UCLA Goals: Jack Larsen 1, Chase Dodd 1, Giorgio Alessandria 1, Felix Brozyna-Vilim 1, Guillermo Ocasio 1, Jake Cavano 1, Makoto Kenney 1, Tommy Gruwell 1, Nicolas Saveljic 1
UCLA Saves: Garret Griggs 8
LBSU Goals: Theodoros Pateros 2, Matt Morris 2, Aaron Arias 1, Rafael Real Vergara 1
LBSU Saves: Andrej Bosanac 8