Water polo fans may think they are seeing double.
And rightfully so, as the undefeated Bruins earned two wins this weekend on identical 16-11 scorelines.
No. 1 UCLA men’s water polo (14-0) now stands as the only remaining undefeated Division I team in the nation after defeating No. 4 Fordham (9-1, 3-0 MAWPC) on Friday at Spieker Aquatics Center before taking down No. 13 Pepperdine (6-9) on Saturday at Raleigh Runnels Memorial Pool in Malibu.
The Bruins came out firing against the Rams, with fifth-year utility Ben Larsen scoring his second goal of the game as the first-quarter clock expired to put the former up 4-0, a scoring margin they would maintain for the remainder of the game.
“How we come out is how the rest of the game will go,” said junior attacker Ryder Dodd. “If we came out sluggish, we would be battling the entire game. Getting that lead early on made it a lot easier in the sense that we were not battling from behind.”
A difference in shooting efficiency separated the teams early in the contest. UCLA managed to score on seven of its first eight shots, while Fordham only broke the shutout on its 11th shot of the game.
A key defensive piece for the Bruins was goalkeeper Nate Tauscher. The senior tallied a career-high 18 saves, including five to maintain the first-quarter shutout.
Yet even on a career day, mistakes may come.
Tauscher turned the ball over on an errant long-range pass, which set up a one-on-one attacking opportunity for the Rams. But when the opposing attacker surged towards the goal on the break, Tauscher lunged out from the cage to steal the ball and deny what would have been a free scoring opportunity.
“In my head, I am thinking, I just made a bad pass,” Tauscher said. “How can I get myself out of this? I have to help my team out.”
By the third quarter, UCLA was just barely building upon its first-quarter lead of four goals, but the defensive stop appeared to shift momentum back in the Bruins’ favor.
Late in the fourth quarter, UCLA extended its lead to as many as six goals before experimenting once again with Dodd in the 1D goalkeeper cap in seven-on-six formations.
Fordham’s eleven goals scored – which included two late-game shots into an empty net while UCLA had Dodd in the new cap – was its lowest tally on the season after netting 20 or more goals in each of its last three outings.
Donning the goalie cap was not Dodd’s first time being put in a new position this season, as coach Adam Wright discussed Dodd’s increased involvement as a leader as well.
“Now he has been thrust into a position where some of the guys who graduated had a strong presence in terms of leadership and voice in the water, and now that is him,” Wright said. “Physically, he has got every tool imaginable, but he is going to become a leader on the U.S. team too.”
The Long Beach local has also led by example with his play, scoring six goals in this weekend’s matches to increase his team-high season tally to 31.
Saturday’s bout against Pepperdine saw a more even start to the match, with both teams scoring four in the opening quarter. Larsen paced the squad with a pair in the first stanza, while Pepperdine utility Hunter Danko tallied a quick hat trick in the frame.
After the Waves took an early 5-4 lead in the second, the Bruins rattled in five consecutive goals to take a four-score lead at the half. And just like against the Rams, they never let the Waves back into the game.
“Having those quarters puts you in a position to be successful in the game, but we need to figure out a way to stay consistent with them,” Wright said. “For example, the back half of the second period (against Fordham), we start to let it slip, and if you can just keep going, it really puts teams in a tough spot.”
Nevertheless, fueled by a pair of hat tricks from Larsen and junior attacker Bode Brinkema, UCLA upheld its unbeaten streak for another week.
UCLA will return to Spieker Aquatics Center next weekend against two familiar top-four opponents – No. 2 Stanford and No. 4 California.
“Both of those teams we had one-goal games with, so they are going to come here and obviously want to prove that they are better,” Dodd said. “So it is going to be a great test again.”
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