Los Angeles, Calif. - The No. 2 Pacific men's water polo team saw its eight-game win streak snapped by No. 1 UCLA Sunday as the Bruins defense locked down an 11-5 win.
UCLA's Garrett Danner made 12 saves in goal while adding three steals as the Bruins (22-0, 6-0 MPSF) won their 25th consecutive game. UCLA handed Pacific its first MPSF conference loss, as the Tigers fall to 20-3 overall, 6-1 in MPSF play, and lose a game in regulation for the first time.
Devon Thumwood scored twice for the Tigers while Krisztian Laczkovics, Alex Obert, and Ben Stevenson also provided the Tigers goals. Pacific goalkeeper Brady Moore recorded 14 saves.
After the game opened with goals from UCLA's Ryder Roberts and Pacific's Ben Stevenson, Devon Thumwood gave the Tigers a 2-1 lead by converting a five-meter penalty. Patrick Fellner knotted things back up for the Bruins with 1:54 left, and after a defensive stop, UCLA took a 3-2 lead after one on a goal from Max Irving.
In the second, Laczkovics tied the game at 3-3 with a 6-on-5 goal early in the period, but Chancellor Ramirez and Alex Roelse provided a two-goal margin for UCLA with back-to-back goals.
Irving stretched the Bruins lead to 6-3 in the third, and Roberts tacked on another for a four-goal advantage, and Fellner posted his second to wrap the scoring in the third quarter.
In the fourth, Roberts completed the hat trick for an 9-3 lead on the Bruins first possession before Obert scored off an asset from Laczkovics to cut the deficit to 8-3.
Ramirez struck again before Thumwood hit the back of the net on a six-on-five, but Anthony Daboub added the final goal for the Bruins to cap the scoring.
Danner added two steals to go with his 12 saves, while the Bruins defense chipped in two field blocks. One Pacific shot rang off the post.
Pacific was out-shot 27-20 on the afternoon, and finished the day 3-for-8 with the man-advantage. The Tigers defense did successfully kill five 5-on-6 shorthanded stints.
The Tigers sit second in MPSF now, at 6-1, a half game up on No. 4 Cal (5-1 MPSF). UCLA owns a game and a half lead for the top seed in the MPSF tournament, with a one-game lead in the loss column and head-to-head victories over Cal and Pacific.
Pacific faces No. 4 Cal next week on Saturday, in Berkeley, at noon and will wrap the regular season at home against No. 8 Long Beach State on Nov. 14.
