UCLA rallies in final second to beat Southern California 11-10 and win men’s water polo championship

STANFORD, Calif. (AP) — Frederico Jucá Carsalade scored with one second remaining to cap a four-goal fourth quarter, and UCLA rallied to beat Southern California 11-10 to win the men’s water polo championship on Sunday at the Avery Aquatic Center.

It was the 14th championship for the second-seeded and defending champion Bruins (27-2), winning back-to-back titles for the fifth time.

USC (23-4), the top seed, was aiming for its 11th title — all since 1998 — in a tournament that began in 1969. The Trojans won six in a row from 2008-13.

Chase Dodd scored twice to help UCLA to a 3-1 lead after the first quarter.

Stefan Branovic added his second goal to cut it to 3-2 and Jack Vort scored twice in a four-goal run over the final 4:41 to give the Trojans a 6-4 lead at halftime.

USC twice took two-goal leads in the third quarter on scores by Vort and Efe Naipoglu, but Jucá Carsalade scored with 31 seconds left to make it 8-7.

Ryder Dodd scored back-to-back goals — the first after a penalty on Vort — and the Bruins led 10-9 with 2:35 remaining. Jack Martin scored with a man advantage for USC to tie it 32 seconds later.

The two teams split four matches this season.

UCLA beat Stanford 9-7 in the semifinals and USC beat Fordham 16-7 to advance.

UCLA beat USC 11-8 to win the championship last season after California beat the Bruins 13-11 in the title game the year before. Cal beat Southern Cal 13-12 in 2021 and 2022 to win the championship.