The UCLA men’s water polo team scored two unanswered goals in the last two minutes, one of which was Ben Hohl’s game-winner nailed with 50 seconds remaining. The Bruins beat Mountain Pacific Sports Federation rival Stanford, 9-8 Friday at Spieker Aquatics Center.
Hohl, a senior attacker, had a hand in all three UCLA fourth quarter goals. His cross-cage shot into the upper left corner of the net from 10 meters out with 6:40 to play gave No. 3 UCLA (10-4, 2-1 MPSF) a 7-5 lead, but No. 4 Stanford (7-5, 1-1) responded quickly. Three straight goals in the next four minutes put the Cardinal up 8-7 with 2:56 to play.
After an exclusion foul on the counterattack by Stanford’s Peter Sefton, UCLA coach Adam Wright used a timeout and designed a play to bring UCLA even. Hohl found sophomore attacker Griffin White wide open on the left side of the net, and White put the ball into the back of the net to make it 8-8. Following a Stanford turnover, Hohl came right back and fired another shot from outside that beat Cardinal goalkeeper Brian Pingree and gave the Bruins the lead.
Stanford had two chances to tie it up, but freshman goalkeeper James Hartshorne made sure both shots stayed out of the goal ““ his sixth and seventh saves of the night ““ and gave UCLA the big conference win.
Hohl was pulled early after an exclusion foul less than a minute into the game and saw the bench for much of the first half, but came back to lead all scorers with three goals, giving him a team-leading 21 on the year.
UCLA had gotten off on the wrong foot to conference play after a disappointing 11-8 loss to Cal last weekend, while the Cardinal were fresh off an upset win over then-undefeated USC. MPSF standings are sure to take another turn this weekend after No. 2 Cal and No. 1 USC face off tomorrow in Los Angeles.
The Bruins will get a one-game break from conference play Sunday as they take on the Chapman Panthers at noon at Spieker. Their six-game homestand continues next week as No. 5 UC Irvine comes to town on Oct. 23.