UCLA and USC men’s water polo teams met in the NCAA Championship game for the seventh time on Sunday. This year, the Bruins came away with a 7-6 victory over their cross-town rivals, breaking a tie which saw both teams with three championship game wins against the other. It was UCLA’s 12th NCAA title in program history and its first since 2017.
UCLA scored three unanswered goals in the first half, beginning with freshman Mo Kenney at the 2:02 mark. Senior Chasen Travisano set up sophomore Tommy Gruwell for the first goal of the second period, putting UCLA up 2-1 at the 7:17 mark. Redshirt junior Evan Rosenfeld added the third goal at 5:37 with a nearside skip shot.
The first half ended with UCLA up 3-0 over USC.
USC opened the third period with back-to-back goals on strikes from senior Jacob Mercep (7:16) and sophomore Chris Sturtevant (4:42) to narrow UCLA’s lead to one goal. UCLA junior Jake Cavano scored the first of his two goals of the championship at 3:46 with a power play goal to put the Bruins up 4-2.
USC came back to tie things up at 4-4 with back-to-back goals from Jake Ehrhardt (2:52) and Carson Kranz (2:17). UCLA went back up on top on its next possession when Travisano put one in the back of the net with 1:53 left in the third.
UCLA led 5-4 heading into the final period.
In the fourth, UCLA earned back-to-back power plays and finished them both to go up 7-4. Senior Nicolas Saveljic scored at 7:16, then Cavano took advantage of another 6-on-5 opportunity to pick up his second goal (6:23).
Undaunted, the Trojans bounced back with another pair of goals. Mercep netted his second at 4:14 and Kranz followed with a nearside skipper that brought the score to 7-6 with 3:25 remaining in regulation.
USC, who have had had 15 NCAA title match appearances in the past 16 seasons, came up just short of forcing the game into overtime. They had a 6-on-5 late but a shot by Sturtevant bounced off the post and was snagged by Saveljic, effectively ending the game.
UCLA’s Nicolas Saveljic was chosen as the most valuable player. He was also named to the All-NCAA Tournament first team along with teammates Jake Cavano, Bernardo Maurizi, and USC’s Jake Ehrhardt and Jacob Mercep.
As head coach, Adam Wright has now led UCLA to four NCAA titles. He also won two as a player and one in the position of assistant coach.
UCLA Game Leaders |
Shots |
Goals |
Assists |
Points |
| #21 Nicolas Saveljic | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| #4 Jake Cavano | 5 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| #22 Mo Kenney | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| #16 Guillermo Ocasio | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
USC Game Leaders |
Shots |
Goals |
Assists |
Points |
| #9 Jacob Mercep | 5 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| #8 Jake Ehrhardt | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| #6 Chris Sturtevant | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| #24 Carson Kranz | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
UCLA and USC toppled the top two tournament seeds, #1 Stanford and #2 Cal, in the semi-finals. Both were nailbiters, with UCLA overpowering defending champion Stanford 11-10 and USC toppling Cal 12-10.
Box Scores
| SCOREBOARD | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | FINAL |
| No. 3 UCLA | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 7 |
| No. 4 USC | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 6 |
- 6×5 – UCLA – 3/12 – USC – 1/12
- Penalties – UCLA – 0/0 – USC – 0/0
- UCLA Goals: Jake Cavano 2, Tommy Gruwell 1, Mo Kenney 1, Evan Rosenfeld 1, Nicolas Saveljic 1, Chasen Travisano 1
- UCLA Saves: Bernardo Maurizi 9
- USC Goals: Carson Kranz 2, Jacob Mercep 2, Jake Ehrhardt 1, Chris Sturtevant 1
- USC Saves: Nic Porter 13
You guys were awesome! We loved watching every minute of the championship game. Go Bruins – #119 and counting!
These guys look tough! I’ll stick with swimming!
Yeah even the best swimmers have a hard time!