CSULB Men’s Water Polo Take a Loss to UCLA

LONG BEACH – California State Long Beach Men’s Water Polo, ranked No. 6, lost to University of California, Los Angeles, No. 1; on their first home game on September 17.

The highly anticipated game was the first home game that CSULB held since 2019. With an attendance of 890 people at the Ken Lindgren Aquatics Center, the pool deck held attendees from CSULB and UCLA alike on three sides of the pool.

With the final score being 6-9, CSULB held their own against the Bruins in defense with seven steals and nine exclusions the total game.

UCLA (8-0)  had taken the lead in the first quarter with the first goal being made by Felix Brozyna-Vilim.

Rafael Real Vergara secured a goal for CSULB (8-1) with 13 seconds remaining in the first quarter with a “man-up” – that being CSULB had six players and UCLA had five after an exclusion.

UCLA held the lead at half-time with Jake Cavano getting them a goal making it 5-2.

CSULB’s goalie, Junior Andrej Bosanac, kept UCLA at bay with eight saves, helping Theodoros Pateros, Matt Morris, and Aaron Arias to get the final shots in the last two quarters.

Theodoros Pateros and Matt Morris lead CSULB’s shots with two goals each.

By Jess Gutierrez