No. 2 UCLA Rallies to Defeat Santa Clara, 13-9

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STANFORD, Calif. -- No. 2 UCLA (11-0) rallied to defeat Santa Clara (2-4), 13-9, on Friday afternoon in the first round of the 2022 MPSF Invitational at Stanford's Avery Aquatic Center. UCLA improved to 15-0 in the series history against the Broncos.

The Bruins had nine players score in the game, paced by a career-high four goals from redshirt sophomore Gianpiero Di Martire. Redshirt freshmen Grant Loth was the only other Bruin to score multiple goals, finishing with two against Santa Clara.

Junior Garret Griggs got the start in the cage and went the distance, registering a season-high-tying 11 saves and three steals while allowing nine goals.

Bennett Stafford led Santa Clara with two goals and Chase Zamborelli had 12 saves while surrendering 13 goals to UCLA.

PERIOD ONE
> Santa Clara outscored the Bruins 2-1 in the first period.
> Senior Gabe Discipulo took a feed from senior Andy Rodgers and scored from two meters to open the scoring (4:26).
> The the Broncos scored back-to-back power play goals (3:59 and 0:01) to take a 2-1 lead into the second period.

PERIOD TWO
> UCLA outscored the Broncos, 5-3, in second period to take a 6-5 lead into the break.
> Santa Clara scored the first two goals of the second (7:33 and 6:19) to push its leads to 4-1.
> Di Martire answered with back-to-back goals (5:52 and 5:02) to cut the deficit to 4-3.
> Then junior Hayden Nightingale provided the equalizer (3:37) off a feed from Rodgers to tie the game 4-4.
> After another score by SC (2:47), Di Martire completed his hat trick (1:15) to tie it up at 5-5.
> Loth scored his first of the game (0:34) to end the scoring in the second, putting the Bruins back in front with a lead they would never relinquish.
 
PERIOD THREE
> UCLA dominated Santa Clara, 4-1, in the third to take a 10-6 lead into the fourth period.
> Di Martire opened the scoring in the third (7:30) with his fourth goal of the game.
> Sophomore Chase Dodd scored his first of the game on a power play (6:45) to put UCLA up 8-5.
> Freshman Noah Rowe answered a goal by SC (3:57) with a power play goal (3:33) to keep it a three-goal lead.
> Redshirt junior Jack White scored from the front court (1:08) to end the scoring in the third, pushing the lead to four.

PERIOD FOUR
> Both teams battled to a 3-3 draw in the fourth quarter to provide the 13-9 final.
> The two teams traded goals throughout the final stanza, with SC scoring from the front court (7:11) and super senior Jake Cavano answering with a power play goal (3:37) to make it 11-7.
> Santa Clara would score again from the front court (2:58), but Rodgers would score on a power play for UCLA (2:26) to extend the lead to 12-8.
> After Santa Clara scored a power play goal (1:26), the Bruins ended the scoring with a power play goal from Loth (0:40), his second of the contest.

UP NEXT
The Bruins return to action tomorrow in the quarterfinals of the MPSF Invitational against the winner of the No. 7 Long Beach State/No. 10 San Jose State game at Stanford at 10:40 a.m. PT at Avery Aquatic Center.

No. 2 UCLA vs. Santa Clara (MPSF Invitational - First Round)

6x5 - UCLA - 6/11- SC - 3/7
Penalties - UCLA - 0/1 - SC - 0/0

SC Goals: Bennett Stafford 2, Jackson Westerman 1, Cody Ferguson 1, Caedmon Fisher 1, Ford Eldredge 1, Zach Fales 1, Chase Raisin 1, Max Hendrickson 1
SC Saves: Chase Zamborelli 12

UCLA Goals: Gianpiero Di Martire 4, Grant Loth 2, Gabe Discipulo 1, Jake Cavano 1, Andy Rodgers 1, Jack White 1, Noah Rowe 1, Chase Dodd 1, Hayden Nightingale 1
UCLA Saves: Garret Griggs 11