UCLA Men's Water Polo: Bruins Upset Cal For 2023 Overnight MPSF Invitational

The Bruins are on the rise.

Your UCLA Bruins men's water polo team is finding new ways to surprise at this early point of their 2023 season.

This past Sunday, the nation's second-ranked Bruins bested the top-ranked UC Berkeley Golden Bears in a 12-10 final. In so doing, UCLA won the 2023 Overnight MPSF Invitational at USC's Uytengsu Aquatics Center, per a UCLA press statement. 

With the victory, the Bruins improved their season record to a perfect 13-0, while the Golden Bears dropped to a blemished 12-1.

Senior attacker Rafael Real Vergara, the newly-minted MPSF West Delfina Player of the Week and UCLA Student-Athlete of the Week, was the standout for the Bruins, as has generally been his custom this season thus far. He scored four goals, finished with a team-leading seven points, and notched three assists.

3Q - 0:01 | Rafael Real Vergara with goal number 4⃣, this one on a power play at the buzzer! No. 2 UCLA leads No. 1 California, 11-9.#GoBruins 🐻🤽‍♂️ pic.twitter.com/nVYNOCZ2Eb

— UCLA Water Polo (@UCLAWaterPolo) September 24, 2023

All told, six Bruins scored in the match. Redshirt senior attacker Jack Larsen logged six total points, in the form of three goals and three assists. 

Another senior attacker, Hayden Nightingale, scored two more goals.

.@UCLAWaterPolo strike two more times including this one from Hayden Nightingale as they lead @StanfordMWP 4-2 at the end of the first. pic.twitter.com/E0KleWtDDr

— USA Water Polo (@USAWP) March 20, 2021

Redshirt freshman utility Ben Larsen, freshman center Marcell Szécsi, and sophomore attacker Noah Rowe chipped in the team's other three goals.

Next up for the Bruins is a home bout with No. 4-ranked Pepperdine, set for this Friday at 5 p.m. PT at Dirks Pool in Spieker Aquatics Center.

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