Nov. 20, 2005

Los Angeles, Calif. - The fifth-ranked UCLA men's water polo team earned an 11-7 victory over No. 8 Pacific in both teams regular season finales on Sunday, Nov. 20, at the Sunset Canyon Recreation Center. The Tigers fall to 18-12 on the season and 2-6 in MPSF action, while the Bruins improve to 19-7 overall and 5-3 in MPSF play.

The Bruins had a 3-0 lead midway through the second, but Pacific was able to answer on back-to-back goals by sophomore Dragan Bakic (Split, Croatia) to cut the lead to 3-2. The Bruins put two more goals on the scoreboard before junior team captain Clint McLaughlin (El Cajon, Calif.) found the back of the cage to make the score 5-3 at the half.

UCLA opened up with three straight goals to start the half before C. McLaughlin would score his second goal of the match with 2:48 left in the third period to pull the Tigers within four. Justin Johnson then added his second goal of the match with 45 seconds left in the period to put the Bruins up 9-4 heading into the fourth.

The Tigers struck first in the final period, as Bakic scored his third goal of the match at the with 6:10 remaining to make the score 9-5. UCLA came back to score two goals to give the Bruins an 11-5 advantage with 4:52 left to play. Junior Matt Turnbull (Act, Australia) would score at the 2:36 mark and Bakic added his fourth goal of the match for the Tigers to cut the lead to 11-7 with 1:07 left to play to round out the scoring

Senior goalkeeper Marko Popovic (Belgrade, Serbia) made eight saves on the day. UCLA was lead by Johnson and Krsto Sbutega's two goals apiece, while seven other players, including goalkeeper Will Didinger, recorded a single goal.

Pacific will next be in action on Friday, Nov. 25 as they face UC Irvine in the first round of the MPSF Tournament, held at USC's McDonald's Swim Stadium. The Anteaters defeated the Tigers twice during the season, picking up an 8-5 win in the NorCal Open before defeating the Tigers in Stockton 14-10 in MPSF play on Oct. 23rd.

Final Results:

Team 1 2 3 4 Total

Pacific 0 3 1 3 7

UCLA 2 3 4 2 11

Goals: Pacific: Dragan Bakic (4), Clint McLaughlin (2), Matt Turnbull

UCLA: Sbutega (2), Johnson (2), Krikorian, Morrison, Didinger, Foley, Pietsch, Zider, M. Jacobs

Saves: Pacific: Marko Popovic (8)

UCLA: Didinger (6)