STANFORD, Calif. – No. 1 UCLA used a late surge to break a 6-6 tie, scoring six of the game’s final eight goals to top No. 4 Stanford, 12-8, in MPSF men’s water polo action Saturday morning at Avery Aquatic Center.
Senior BJ Churnside and redshirt junior Adam Abdulhamid each recorded a hat trick, while senior Bret Bonanni added two goals for the Cardinal against the Bruins.
Stanford (14-5, 0-2 MPSF) and UCLA (18-0, 2-0 MPSF) traded goals early on with Bonanni, Churnside and Abdulhamid each netting scores for the Cardinal to make it 3-3 with seven minutes remaining in the first half.
From there it was a game of runs. UCLA struck first with three-straight goals in a span of 3:23 to build a 6-3 lead.
It was Stanford’s turn to seize momentum and it did, responding with three goals of its own to tie it up at 6-6 in the first minute of the second half.
Churnside completed his first-half hat trick with a pair of goals in the final three minutes of the second quarter.
Abdulhamid skipped a shot off the water and into the right corner of the cage to cap the three-goal run with the equalizer at the 7:17 mark of the third quarter.
The Bruins snapped the Cardinal spurt, taking control of the game with five unanswered goals over the next 9:10. They pulled out to an 11-6 advantage with 6:07 left to play.
Bonanni collected a rebound and punched it back in the cage for his second goal of the contest with 5:43 to play to end the Bruins run.
UCLA and Stanford traded goals the rest of the way with the Bruins completing the 12-8 victory.
Stanford junior goalie Drew Holland and UCLA’s Garrett Danner each collected seven saves in the cage in Saturday’s game.
With his two scores on Saturday, Bonanni is now nine goals shy of tying Tony Azevedo’s Stanford and MPSF scoring record of 332 career goals.
Stanford will be back in action Sunday as the Cardinal travels to Stockton, Calif. to face No. 5 Pacific at noon.