No. 1 UCLA 12, No. 9 UC Irvine 3
IRVINE, Calif. -- Top-ranked UCLA improved to 17-0 on the season with a 12-3 win at No. 9 UC Irvine (11-4) on Saturday afternoon in the quarterfinals of the SoCal Invitational. Freshman Ryder Roberts scored a hat trick to lead UCLA as nine different Bruins scored.
The 17-0 start to the season is the sixth-longest winning streak in UCLA history and the best since the 2004 national championship squad won 18 consecutive games.
Ryder Roberts contributed three goals for the Bruins, while Chancellor Ramirez scored twice. Eight UCLA players notched one goal.
The Bruins were 2-for-4 on power plays while UC Irvine was 3-for-7. Neither team attempted a penalty shot.
Redshirt freshman Garrett Danner made the start in the cage for UCLA, playing three and one half quarters, while allowing two power play goals and registering 12 saves. Redshirt junior James Hartshorne played the last half of the fourth quarter in goal for the Bruins and allowed one power play goal while making two stops. Michael Bailey started in the cage for UC Irvine and played the first half while allowing eight goals and tallying three saves. Alex Kazmier played the second half, allowing four goals while making five stops.
No. 1 UCLA 23, Pomona-Pitzer 2
IRVINE, Calif. -- UCLA improved to 16-0 on the season with a 23-2 win against Pomona-Pitzer (3-13) on Saturday in the first round of the SoCal Invitational at UC Irvine. Freshman Lovre Milos, redshirt junior Cristiano Mirarchi and juniors Paul Reynolds and Chris Fahlsing each scored hat tricks for UCLA as 11 different Bruins scored.
The Bruins were 3-for-6 on power plays while Pomona-Pitzer was 1-for-5. Both teams were 1-for-1 on penalty shots.
The Bruins played all three goalkeepers. Redshirt freshman Garrett Danne made the start in the cage for UCLA, playing just the first quarter and pitched a shutout while making one save on a Sagehens' power play. Redshirt junior James Hartshorne played the second and third quarters in goal for the Bruins and allowed just the five meter penalty goal while registering five stops. Junior Stephen White played the fourth period, picking up two saves while allowing one power play goal. Austin Strong started in the cage for Pomona-Pitzer and played the first half while allowing 12 goals and tallying one save. Caleb Prater-Fahey played the second half, allowing 11 goals while making five stops.
No. 2 Southern California 14, No. 7 Long Beach State 7
No. 2 Southern California 13, No. 16 St. Francis (N.Y.) 4
IRVINE, Calif. -- Second-ranked Southern California surged into the semifinals of the 2013 SoCal Tournament with two wins on Saturday. With five goals on the day, Trojan senior Nikola Vavic moved into a tie as USC's all-time leading scorer, now even with Juraj Zatovic with 220 career goals. That puts Vavic within striking distance of taking No. 1 on Sunday when the Trojans move into the semifinals of the tourney against Pacific.
To get to that semifinal slot, the Trojans had to take down two opponents on Saturday. USC opened the day with a morning matchup against No. 16 St. Francis (N.Y.), and took out the Terriers with a 13-4 win. Kostas Genidounias led the way with a hat trick in that one, as USC shut out St. Francis in the second frame en route to a 7-1 halftime advantage. By game's end, Vavic, Max Hurst-Mendoza and Ivan Kustic would join Genidounias with multiple-goal games, scoring two apiece. Goalies James Clark and Paul Mitre shared time in the cage, with Clark hauling in six saves in the first half and Mitre making five in the second.
That victory put USC up against No. 7 Long Beach State in the afternoon match, playing for the right to step into Sunday's semifinals. Clark reigned supreme in the cage for the first three frames as USC overmatched the 49ers and took a 7-2 lead at halftime before shutting them out in the third to build an 11-2 advantage on the way to the fourth. Aleck Ryner took over in the final frame to close out the win as a 14-7 Trojan victory while the USC offense got nine Trojans in on the scoring. Vavic got himself to numero uno all-time with a hat trick in the win, and Connor Virjee, too, poured in three to lead the Trojans.
No. 3 Pacific 10, No. 6 UC Santa Barbara 8
IRVINE, Calif. -- Pacific tallied two quick goals before halftime and never looked back in a 10-8 win against UC Santa Barbara on Saturday in the quarterfinals of the SoCal Tournament.
Senior Kevin Oliveira led Pacific with three goals on the afternoon, while junior Sean Grady and senior Goran Tomasevic each tallied two. Seniors Balazs Szabo, Balazs Erdelyi, and junior Alex Obert also found the back of the net for the Tigers.
Senior goalkeeper Alex Malkis preserved the win, making 13 saves along the way.
No. 3 Pacific 14, No. 15 Santa Clara 4
IRVINE, Calif. -- Pacific advanced to the quarterfinals of the SoCal Tournament on Saturday with a 14-4 win against Santa Clara.
Junior Alex Obert led the way offensively with four goals, as nine different Tigers found the back of the net. Seniors Goran Tomasevic and Kevin Oliveira each added two goals. Seniors Andres Oneto, Balazs Erdelyi, junior Sean Grady, sophomore Kristian Laczkovics, and freshmen J.T. Sarmento and Ben Stevenson also tallied for Pacific.
Pacific's defense smothered Santa Clara as the Tigers beat the Broncos for the third time this season. The Tigers improve to 11-1 overall on the year. Santa Clara falls to 9-6.
Senior goalkeeper Alex Malkis made eight saves through three quarters, holding the Broncos to three goals, while junior Chris Hughes stopped six of seven shots in the fourth quarter.
No. 4 Stanford 14, No. 5 California 8
No. 4 Stanford 18, No. 14 UC Davis 7
IRVINE, Calif. -- Stanford was all business Saturday at the UCI Invitational, advancing to Sunday’s semifinal with victories against No. 14 UC Davis and No. 5 California.
The Cardinal (10-2) opened the day with an 18-7 win against the Aggies before pulling away for a 14-8 win against the Golden Bears in the late afternoon.
Bret Bonanni and BJ Churnside scored four goals apiece in the win against California, while Conner Cleary added a hat trick. In the cage, Drew Holland went the distance and made six saves.
In the morning, Stanford took control early, scoring six goals in the opening period for a 6-1 lead. Alex Bowen, Churnside and Connor Stapleton opened the game with goals to give the Cardinal a 3-0 lead, and three more goals from Griffin Bolan, Adam Abdulhamid and Reid Chase sandwiched a score from Davis’ Alex Bagdasarian.
Jackson Kimbell scored four times to lead the Cardinal while Stapleton, Bolan and Bowen netted three goals apiece. Abdulhamid scored twice and Bonanni, Chase and Churnside each added a goal.
In goal, Drew Holland started and played the opening period before Scott Platshon came on and handled the final three periods.
No. 5 California 13, No. 13 UC San Diego 7
IRVINE, CALIF. -- Jumping out to a 5-1 first-quarter lead, California upped its record to 9-3 with a 13-7 victory against UC San Diego on Saturday in the Golden Bears’ opening match of the SoCal Invitational.
Cal was led by three goals from freshman Thomas Carroll, while junior Luka Ivanovic and sophomores Thomas Agramonte and Mitchell Hamilton added two goals apiece. Junior goalie Jon Sibley finished with 13 saves.
It was the second time this season Cal has defeated the Tritons from UC San Diego. On Sept. 7 at the Triton Invitational, the Bears topped host UCSD 13-10.
No. 6 UC Santa Barbara 11, No. 11 Concordia (Calif.) 6
IRVINE, Calif. -- Sixth-ranked UC Santa Barbara took on No. 11 in the SoCal Tournament in Irvine. The Gauchos opened the tournament with an 11-6 win against Concordia.
UCSB opened the game with a goal from sophomore Matthew Hamilton only two minutes into play. The Gauchos were able to score three more goals before Concordia was able to sneak one in with 0:51 left in the first quarter.
The Gauchos kept up the momentum up as they opened the second quarter with three goals to maintain their lead after the first half 7-2. UC Santa Barbara cruised through the second half, ultimately leading to its 11-6 win against Concordia.
No. 7 Long Beach State 10, No. 10 Loyola Marymount 7
IRVINE, Calif. -- Long Beach State won its first game of the SoCal Tournament, winning for a third time on the year against Loyola Marymount in a 10-7 victory. Zacchary Kappos scored three times to pace the 49ers.
No. 7 Long Beach State (15-3) got out to a hot start, as Carter Taylor got the 49ers on the board early. Kappos scored two consecutive goals near the end of the period to spot the 49ers a 3-0 lead, while the Pavo Ljepopio made some big saves to keep the Lions off of the board.
Taylor scored the first goal of the second period as the 49ers took a 4-0 lead, but Loyola Marymount (9-7) came storming back, scoring two goals before the end of the half, and then scoring the first three goals in the third period to take a 5-4 lead with 1:31 remaining after a goal from Milutin Mitrovic.
The 49ers bounced back for their first goal in eight minutes as Kappos converted a penalty, and the two teams traded goals into the fourth quarter. Down 7-6, Devin Mefford scored and Milos Vrzicfollowed with another goal on the next trip down to get the lead back for the 49ers with 5:02 remaining.
Sinan Karatay came through with a big save following a Long Beach State exclusion to hold onto that edge with one minute to play, and then the 49ers rode that momentum and put away the game with a Nolan McConnell goal. Dimitrios Lappas put in a final goal to close out the game in the final seconds.
No. 8 Pepperdine 13, Pomona-Pitzer 4
IRVINE, Calif. -- In the second game of the SoCal tournament, Pepperdine bounced back for a 13-4 victory against Pomona-Pitzer.
Luke Hewko powered the Waves against Pomona-Pitzer, scoring a career-high six goals. Danny White and Madaras each registered a pair of scoring strikes. Matthew Carter made his first start of the season and collected nine saves.
No. 9 UC Irvine 7, No. 8 Pepperdine 6
IRVINE, Calif. -- UC Irvine scored the game's final three goals to defeat Pepperdine 7-6 in the UCI Invitational on Saturday morning at Anteater Aquatics Complex.
Senior Mitch Wise's goal with 51 seconds remaining was the game-winner as the 'Eaters avenged a Sept. 21 loss to the Waves at the NorCal Tournament.
Jacob Mourer scored with 7:41 left in the game to draw UCI even with Pepperdine 4-4. Markos Madaras and Jake Schrimpf then put the Waves ahead 6-4 before the 'Eaters closed out the scoring.
Wise scored at the 4:25 mark to pull UCI within 6-5 and Alan Robertson knotted the score at 6-6 on a power-play goal with 1:36 remaining to set up Wise's game-winning score in the final minute.
Wise, Mourer and Kyle Trush each scored two goals for the 'Eaters (11-3).
Alex Kazmier had 11 saves in goal for UCI while Bench Valics made 12 stops for Pepperdine.
