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Great Scott: Scott Brothers Combine to Lead No. 2 UCLA Past No. 4 Texas 12-8 for 2010 Men's National Collegiate Club Title
2010 Men's National Collegiate Club Schedule & Scores
CEDAR CITY, Utah -- Tournament Most Valuable Player Max Scott (Jr., La Canada Flintridge, Calif.) recorded five goals and brother/goalie Mike Scott (Jr., La Canada Flintridge, Calif.) added six saves to share Player of the Game honors in leading No. 2 ranked the University of California-Los Angeles to a 12-8 victory over the No. 4 Longhorns of the University of Texas to capture the 2010 Men's National Collegiate Club Championship. The 2009 champions, UCLA joins the 2001-02 California Polytechnic State University Mustangs as the only teams to repeat as men's national champions.
UCLA, which downed Florida International University last year at the University of Florida for the 2009 title, had to rally back to take the win as the Bruins trailed 4-2 after a period of play.
Following back-to-back goals by Max Scott and Bill Farmer (So., Winnetka, Ill.) at 6:18 and 4:45 of the second period to tie the game, Texas went ahead for the final time as John Littlepage (Gr., Trinidad) fired in a marker at 4:28 to give the Longhorns a 5-4 scoring advantage.
However, the lead was short-lived as Michael Olson (Jr., Los Altos, Calif.) rifled a shot into the cage to ignite a 6-0 scoring run by the Bruins from 3:29 of the second period to 2:31 of the third period.
Following Olson's tally, Max Scott tacked on another score at 2:35 before Tommy Cornelius (So., Piedmont, Calif.) blasted a ball past the post with 1:02 remaining in the first half for a 7-5 UCLA lead at intermission.
Scott went back to work in the third period with a man-up tally at 4:59 and a natural goal at 4:20 to make it 9-5. Rusty Morris (Sr., Altadena, Calif.) finished the goal spree with a scoring shot of his own at 2:31 of the period to push the Bruins' lead to five.
Texas outscored UCLA 2-1 over the remainder of the period as Justin Cotter (Sr., Houston, Texas) and Matthew Johnson (Sr., Houston, Texas) beat Mike Scott at 50 seconds and five seconds, respectively, while Max Scott netted his fourth score of the day with 23 seconds on the clock for an 11-7 UCLA lead after 21 minutes of championship action.
Although within four goals at the end of the third period, the Longhorns were unable to close to within three the rest of the way as Johnson found the back of the cage at 2:27, but Morris finished off UCLA's championship season with a man-up goal with 56 seconds on the clock for the 12-8 final score.
Hunter Henderson (Sr., Ft. Worth, Texas) finished with nine saves for Texas which recorded its best finish in program history following sixth (2005), 11th (2004) and 13th (2003) place marks in three previous trips to the National Collegiate Club Championship.
For leading the Longhorns to the title game, Texas head coach Arseni Grokhovski earned the Coach of the Tournament award as voted on by the 16-competing collegiate club teams in the tournament field.
Overall, UCLA's title marks the seventh for the Pacific Coast Division (2010, 2009, 2007, 2004, 2002, 2001, 1999) and the 10th time a team from the Collegiate Water Polo Association's largest division made the title game after runner-up finishes in 2008, 2003 and 2002.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | -- | Final | |
| No. 4 University of Texas |
4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | -- | 8 |
| No. 2 University of California-Los Angeles |
2 | 5 | 4 | 1 | -- | 12 |
UCLA Goals: Max
Scott (5), Rusty Morris (3), Bill Farmer, Caleb Greig, Tommy
Cornelius, Michael Olson
Texas Goals: Matthew Johnson (3), John Littlepage (2), Justin Cotter (2), Alex Hacopian
Saves: UCLA - Mike Scott (6) ; Texas - Hunter Henderson (9)
Exclusions: UCLA - 5 ; Texas - 5
Advantage Opportunities: UCLA - 3-for-5 ; Texas - 1-for-5
Officials: Don Lewis, Gene Gill
