LOS ANGELES, Calif. – No. 2 Stanford nearly erased a four-goal fourth-quarter deficit, pulling within one score with 2:53 remaining. However, No. 4 UCLA held off the Cardinal at the end to escape with a 10-8 victory Saturday at Spieker Aquatics Center.
Stanford fell for just the second time all season, moving to 17-2 on the year and 1-1 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. Saturday's game evened the season series so far between the two men's water polo powerhouses. The Cardinal posted a 9-8 victory over the Bruins in the semifinals of the Mountain Pacific Invitational on Oct. 13 at Avery Aquatic Center. UCLA moved to 20-2 overall and 1-1 in the MPSF with Saturday's win.
Behind, 9-5, early in the fourth quarter, Stanford began to build momentum for a comeback. Senior Blake Parrish netted back-to-back goals for the Cardinal within 1:13 of each other to make it 9-7 with 5:05 remaining. He took a feed from Bennett Williams and put it home with just under seven minutes remaining, and moments later took a Ben Hallock pass and rattled the cage for the Cardinal to cut the Bruins lead to just two.
Williams then continued the Cardinal surge as Stanford forced a turnover and called a quick timeout. Williams scored on the other end to pull Stanford within one with 2:53 to go.
With less than a minute remaining, Williams came up with a steal to give Stanford one last shot. As the seconds ticked away, Jackson Seybold worked free from his defender. The freshman, who scored the game winner with one second remaining in the last matchup with the Bruins, fired toward the goal. His shot was just wide of the cage, however.
The Bruins got a goal as time expired to make it 10-8 at the final buzzer.
Cardinal goalie Oliver Lewis finished with five saves in the cage. His counterpart, Alex Wolf of UCLA, recorded eight stops.
UCLA built its early advantage with three goals in each of the first two periods to race out to a 6-2 lead at the half. Hallock had both Cardinal scores in the opening half.
Stanford returns north, where it will close the regular season at No. 3 California in Berkeley next Saturday at noon. The match will air live on Pac-12 Networks.
