On his final day at the Stanford men's water polo helm, Cardinal coach Dante Dettamanti claimed one final record that had eluded him: an eighth national title. The Cardinal squad beat UCLA, 8-5, December 2 in front of a home crowd to give their 25-year head coach a tie for the most NCAA titles by any coach.

"All year long I stressed how they should try to win it for themselves," Dettamanti said. "I've won championships before, and I didn't need it just because it was my last season."

Dettamanti, who is an accomplished wine-maker in addition to an accomplished coach, ends his collegiate career with a 666-208-6 record and ties California's Pete Cutino with eight NCAA championships in a career. Stanford won its last title in 1994 and had lost in two title games since, including a 6-5 loss to UCLA in 1999.

Stanford jumped out to an early lead when freshman Tony Azevedo scored on a penalty shot at the 5:33 mark in the first period. After being down, 3-0, UCLA scored its first goal of the game with 24 seconds remaining in the opening period with a two-meter shot by Alfonso Tucay.

Tucay kept the Bruins in the game in the second period with another score, but Stanford was up, 5-2, going into the third period.

"Any time you beat a team three times it worries you because it's really hard to beat a good team that many times," Stanford senior Pasi Dutton said about the Bruins. "You have a little edge knowing the players and how they play defense, but at the same time they know you, too."

"This was a really wonderful game and all of these guys deserved it, especially our seniors," Dettamanti said. "This was a great season, and this was a wonderful way to end it. In the last two minutes, I really felt that we were going to take the game, and I started taking my shoes and jacket off. I learned my lesson a couple years ago when I almost sank after getting thrown in. This year I wanted to be a little better prepared."

"Obviously I'm disappointed with a loss at this point," said UCLA coach Adam Krikorian. "With a team like Stanford, any time you're playing such a talented team, you can't afford to give them any breaks. You've got to make them earn all their goals, and you especially can't give them the lead."

Azevedo was named the most outstanding player of the tournament and was joined on the all-tournament team by Stanford's Nesmith, Nick Ellis and Peter Hudnut. Also honored were UCLA's Tucay, Brandon Brooks, Matt Flesher, Brett Ormsby and Albert Garcia; Loyola Marymount's Kevin Witt, Stephen Lipinski and Kyle Witt, and Massachusetts' Mike Foley and Adam Moore rounded out the team.

Semifinals

Stanford goals: Jeff Nesmith (3), Jeff Guyman, Onno Koelman, Peter Hudnut, Tony Azevedo.

Massachusetts goals: Mike Foley, Justin Houck, Adam Moore, Evan Lutz.

UCLA goals: Brett Ormsby (3), Jeff Pflueger (3), Albert Garcia.

Loyola Marymount goals: Stephen Lipinski (2), Kevin Witt (2), Kris Barr.

Loyola Marymount goals: Stephen Lipinski (3), Tamas Szego (3), Kyle Witt (4), Kevin Witt (3), Adam Zintsmaster.

Massachusetts goals: Nate Heydorff, Adam Moore (2), Mike Foley, Carlos Ramos (2).

Saves: Loyola Marymount -- Kevin Paulsen 7; Massachusetts -- J.R. VanderWall 7.

Stanford goals: Tony Azevedo (2), Brian Darrow (2), Onno Koelman (2), Jeff Nesmith, Peter Hudnut.

UCLA goals: Alfonso Tucay (2), Brett Ormsby (2), Matt Flesher.

Saves: Stanford -- Nick Ellis 8; UCLA -- Brandon Brooks 7.

Attendance: 2,226.