12/07/25 07:43:00
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12/07 19:38 CST UCLA rallies in final second to beat Southern California 11-10
and win men's water polo championship
UCLA rallies in final second to beat Southern California 11-10 and win men's
water polo championship
STANFORD, Calif. (AP) --- Frederico Juc Carsalade scored with one second
remaining to cap a four-goal fourth quarter, and UCLA rallied to beat Southern
California 11-10 to win the men's water polo championship on Sunday at the
Avery Aquatic Center.
It was the 14th championship for the second-seeded and defending champion
Bruins (27-2), winning back-to-back titles for the fifth time.
USC (23-4), the top seed, was aiming for its 11th title --- all since 1998 ---
in a tournament that began in 1969. The Trojans won six in a row from 2008-13.
Chase Dodd scored twice to help UCLA to a 3-1 lead after the first quarter.
Stefan Branovic added his second goal to cut it to 3-2 and Jack Vort scored
twice in a four-goal run over the final 4:41 to give the Trojans a 6-4 lead at
halftime.
USC twice took two-goal leads in the third quarter on scores by Vort and Efe
Naipoglu, but Juc Carsalade scored with 31 seconds left to make it 8-7.
Ryder Dodd scored back-to-back goals --- the first after a penalty on Vort ---
and the Bruins led 10-9 with 2:35 remaining. Jack Martin scored with a man
advantage for USC to tie it 32 seconds later.
The two teams split four matches this season.
UCLA beat Stanford 9-7 in the semifinals and USC beat Fordham 16-7 to advance.
UCLA beat USC 11-8 to win the championship last season after California beat
the Bruins 13-11 in the title game the year before. Cal beat Southern Cal 13-12
in 2021 and 2022 to win the championship.
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