UCLA. Champions.
A year after missing out on the championship game, UCLA took down USC 7-5 in the title game to win its 11th national championship, and its third in four years.
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The Bruins fought back from an early 3-2 deficit in what ended up being a back and forth game all the way until the final buzzer. UCLA goalie Alex Wolf drained a shot from the length of the pool with two seconds left to seal the Bruins' win, after Matt Farmer gave them the 6-5 lead with just over six minutes left in the third quarter.
So, how did they get there?
In the first game of the semis, UCLA trailed Pacifc 3-2 at the end of the first quarter, but fought back for an 11-9 win to get to back to the national title game after a one-year hiatus last season. The Bruins won back-to-back titles in 2014 and 2015, but lost to California in the semis in 2016.
In the second game of the night, a rematch of last year's title game, USC got revenge on Cal in a back and forth matchup that saw the Trojans survive 12-11 to make their 13th consecutive finals apperance.
WATER POLO CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY
Relive all the action of the title game in our live blog below:
UCLA, Cal headline eight-team NCAA Men's Water Polo Championship field
INDIANAPOLIS — The NCAA Men’s Water Polo Committee announced today the eight teams vying for the 2017 National Collegiate Men’s Water Polo Championship. The top two seeds have been placed in the bracket; the remaining six teams will compete for the last two berths in the bracket via four opening round games. The opening round games will be contested Nov. 25, hosted by Harvard and Pacific, and Nov. 30, hosted by Southern California, which will also host the championship will be held Dec. 2 and 3. The semifinal and championship games will be played at Uytengsu Aquatics Center in Los Angeles and streamed live on NCAA.com.
RELATED: Interactive bracket | Printable bracket
In the first opening round game, Pacific (19-5) will host Pomona-Pitzer (24-10). The winner will advance to the third opening round game to play UC Davis (22-6), with the winner advancing to the championship bracket to play UCLA (19-4) at Southern California. In the second opening round game, Harvard (23-7) will host George Washington (17-11). The winner will advance to the fourth opening round game to play Southern California (25-3), with the winner advancing to the championship bracket to play California (20-3). Game times for the opening round games are yet to be determined. Game times for the semifinals are 6 p.m. and 8:15 p.m. ET Dec. 2, and the championship game will be played at 6 p.m. ET Dec. 3.
Conferences receiving automatic qualification included the Collegiate Water Polo Association, Golden Coast Conference, Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, Northeast Water Polo Conference, Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and the Western Water Polo Association. The remaining two teams were selected at-large without geographical restrictions.
In 2016, California defeated Southern California, 11-8 to capture its 14th national championship title. For updated championship results, log on to NCAA.com.
