The NCAA News - News Features

UCLA fends off late rally to snag water polo crown

When UCLA claimed the 1995 National Collegiate Men's Water Polo Championship, it ended a 23-year drought between titles.

The Bruins didn't wait at all to win again.

UCLA exploded for six first-quarter goals and held off a late Southern California rally to defeat the Trojans, 8-7, and win its second consecutive championship December 8 at UC San Diego.

Steve Covec scored two goals and Randy Wright tossed in a two-point goal for the Bruins, who claimed their fifth title overall. The back-to-back championships mark the second time UCLA has completed the feat. The Bruins also claimed the 1971 and 1972 titles.

The Bruins vs. Trojans encounter marked the fifth time the two teams have met in the championship, but only the first time in the championship game.

UCLA holds a 3-2 advantage in the NCAA series.

"We followed our game plan and everything fell into place," said UCLA coach Guy Baker, whose squad dropped three of five regular-season games against Southern Cal. "Now we're having a great time the second time around."

Southern Cal, the championship's No. 1 seed, finished as runner-up for the fifth time and the third time in the last four years. The Trojans (23-3), who are still seeking their first water polo crown, defeated Massachusetts to advance to the final.

UC Davis defeated Massachusetts in the third-place game.

UCLA's Matt Swanson, who shared most-outstanding-player honors at the 1995 championship, won the honor again. The 6-5 senior goaltender turned back 14 Trojan shots in the championship game, giving him 192 saves for the season and a school-record 695 career saves.

"I couldn't think of a better way to go out," Swanson said. "This is the sweetest victory, because everybody picked SC to win."

A crowd of 1,685 attended the championship game to push the tournament's two-day total to 2,790. The two-day total surpassed the total of 1,903 at Stanford in 1995, the first year of the four-team format.

In the third-place game, UC Davis earned its highest championship finish by outlasting the Minutemen behind three goals each from Ryan Indart and Mike Gotelli. UC Davis, making its first championship appearance since 1975, finished with a record of 20-14; Massachusetts finished at 22-9.

"We wish we could have done better on Friday, but it was a dream come true to play in the final four and have such a great season," UC Davis goaltender Mike DeJong said.

Named to the first-team all-tournament team from UCLA were Swanson, Jim Toring, Jeremy Braxton-Brown and Corbin Graham. Also named were Marko Zagar, Hrvoje Cizmic and Simun Cimerman of Southern California and Brian Stahl of Massachusetts. Swanson, Braxton-Brown and Toring were named to the first team for the second consecutive year.

Second-team all-tournament selections were DeJong, Indart and Dave Schauer of UC Davis; Covec of UCLA; and Dan Cherrie and Brendan Grubbs of Southern California.

SEMIFINALS

Southern Cal l5 7 5 4 -- 21

Massachusetts 4 0 0 2 -- 6

Southern Cal goals -- Simun Cimerman 4, Luke Daniels 3, Mateo Juric 3, Marko Zagar 3, Hrvoje Cizmic 2, Aaron Wooler 2, Brennan Shum. Two-point goals -- Cimerman, Juric, Zagar.

Massachusetts goals -- Gabriel Marrero 2, Juan Limardo, Aldo Roman, Brian Stahl. Two-point goals -- Stahl.

UC Davis 0 1 3 2 -- 6

UCLA 6 5 3 4 -- 18

UC Davis goals -- Dave Schauer 3, James Giulianotti, Mike Gotelli, Kevin Quinn. Two-point goals -- None.

UCLA goals -- Matt Armato 2, Brian Bent 2, Corbin Graham 2, James Palda 2, Jim Toring 2, Luther Weidner 2, Jeremy Braxton-Brown, Steve Covec, Sam Grayeli, Eric Helfer, Jeff Porter, Brett Stern. Two-point goals -- None.

THIRD PLACE

Massachusetts 0 2 2 4 -- 8

UC Davis 3 3 1 4 -- 11

Massachusetts goals -- Brian Stahl 4, Gabriel Marrero, Marc Staudenbaur, Timmy Troupis. Two-point goals -- Stahl.

UC Davis goals -- Mike Gotelli 3, Ryan Indart 3, James Giulianotti 2, Joel Higgins, Aaron Kenny, Alan Tarbell. Two-point goals -- None.

CHAMPIONSHIP

UCLA 6 0 1 1 -- 8

Southern Cal 3 1 1 2 -- 7

UCLA goals -- Steve Covec 2, Matt Armato, Brian Bent, Jeremy Braxton-Brown, Jim Toring, Randy Wright. Two-point goals -- Wright.

Southern Cal goals -- Hrvoje Cizmic 3, Marko Zagar 2, James Castle, Brennan Shum. Two-point goals -- None.