Oct. 4, 2008

Pasadena, Calif. - The second-ranked UCLA men's water polo team defeated seventh-ranked Long Beach State, 10-4, in both team's MPSF conference opener at the Rose Bowl Aquatic Center in Pasadena. The Bruins had goals from eight different players, led by Scott Davidson's hat trick, and goalkeeper Chay Lapin made 15 saves in the contest, including 11 in the second half.

UCLA never trailed in the game, with Jacob Murphy scoring the game's first goal at 6:43. The 49ers tied it up at 6:10 on a Jeff Greenwood goal but could get no closer than that the rest of the game. Davidson and Krsto Sbutega scored a minute apart late in the first quarter to open up a 3-1 lead before Greenwood notched his second goal of the game to close to within one at the end of the quarter.

Both defenses came up big in the second quarter. At the 5:50 mark, Sbutega got ahead of the defense after a long outlet pass from Lapin and fired a close-range 1-v-1 shot at Long Beach goalkeeper Derek Wiebe-Bailey, who made a point blank save to keep the score at 3-2, UCLA. The Bruin defenders had a pair of field saves in the quarter, including one on a Long Beach power play to hold onto the lead. The only goal of the second quarter came at 2:57 on a Scott Swanson lob shot that increased UCLA's lead to 4-2 at the half.

The Bruins scored three goals in the third quarter to move ahead 7-3, with Davidson, Ben Hohl and Cullen Hennessy finding the back of the net. Lapin made six saves in the third quarter, holding the 49ers to just one goal by Jake Kinne. It was more of the same in the fourth quarter, as Lapin made four saves, and the Bruins scored three goals to Long Beach State's one, also by Kinne. Davidson recorded his third goal of the game, and Cole Consani and Brett Hays rounded out the scoring.

UCLA improves to 5-1 on the year and 1-0 in the MPSF, while Long Beach State drops to 7-7, 0-1.

No. 7 Long Beach State vs. No. 2 UCLA

Long Beach State Goals: Jake Kinne (2), Jeff Greenwood (2)
Long Beach State Saves: Derek Wiebe-Bailey - 8