The scoreline stood at eight goals apiece as the clock wound down on the NCAA championship between UCLA men’s water polo and USC Sunday night. The tide had turned after the Bruins opened the final period comfortably leading 7-4, now finding themselves in a scenario with which UCLA was all too familiar. Read more...

Photo: UCLA men’s water polo won the Bruins’ 112th national championship after sophomore center Gordon Marshall’s goal proved to be the difference-maker between UCLA and USC. (Katie Meyers/Daily Bruin senior staff)

The last time UCLA men’s water polo team went to San Diego, it was untested, with a number of players who had never played a game of collegiate water polo. Read more...

Photo: Sophomore goalkeeper Garrett Danner and the No. 1-seeded Bruins are searching for their first NCAA title since 2004 this weekend in San Diego. (Owen Emerson/Daily Bruin)

The 2014 UCLA men’s water polo team flawlessly followed in the footsteps of its 2013 counterpart for 78 days. The script from last season called for 18 straight wins to start the season, back-to-back losses to USC and Stanford and an undefeated record for the rest of regular season play before stumbling in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Tournament Semifinal. Read more...

Photo: The men’s water polo team followed the exact same script as its counterpart last season. The one difference this year was a win in the third-place game of the MPSF Tournament, giving UCLA a berth into the NCAA Championship Tournament as the No. 1 seed. (Owen Emerson/Daily Bruin)

Finding itself in an unfamiliar position this weekend, the UCLA men’s water polo team put together a dominant victory over USC on Sunday. Following a major upset loss to Long Beach State in Saturday’s semifinal, UCLA quickly bounced back with a wire-to-wire win in the third-place game of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Championship Tournament. Read more...

Photo: Despite losing to Long Beach State in the MPSF conference tournament, UCLA still was named the No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament after winning the third-place game against USC Sunday. (Austin Yu/Daily Bruin senior staff)