Redshirt freshman Nate Tauscher made his first collegiate start and dominated the game with a career-high 13 saves.

Photo by: Mac Brown

A total of seven Bruins scored in the game, paced by just the second hat trick of the year for graduate student Jack Larsen. Showing incredible balance, another four Bruins scored multiple goals, which included two apiece from freshman Ryder Dodd, sophomore Ben Liechty, redshirt junior Chase Dodd, and graduate transfer Nico Tierney.

Redshirt freshman Nate Tauscher got the first start of his collegiate career and he went the distance, tallying a career-high 13 saves while holding Stanford to a season-low six goals. Tauscher and the Bruins were stingy in the second half, outscoring the Cardinal, 7-1, with Tauscher coming up huge in both quarters with four saves in each, including two big penalty stops in the fourth quarter, thwarting any chance of a Stanford comeback.

Stanford scored the first goal of the contest (7:13), but that would be the only time UCLA would trail in this one. The Bruins immediately responded with two goals, one from Ryder Dodd (6:33) and redshirt sophomore Ben Larsen (4:36). The Cardinal would tie it at 2-2 with a penalty conversion (3:27), but Jack Larsen scored the last goal of the period (3:02) off a feed from Ben Liechty to put the Bruins in front 3-2.

Both teams battled to a 3-3 draw in the second period as the Bruins took a 6-5 lead into the break. Stanford struck first to tie it at 3-3 (7:35), but UCLA responded with two more goals, Tierney at 7:16 and Ben Liechty at 3:12 to lead 5-3. The two teams would alternate goals for the rest of the second with Stanford ending the scoring in the period with 1:57 remaining to cut its deficit to one goal before the half.

The Bruins dominated the third period, pitching a shutout, 2-0, to take an 8-5 lead into the final stanza. The third period was a defensive battle until 0:57 left when Chase Dodd found the back of the net to extend the lead to 7-5. Tierney notched his second of the game (0:06) to end the scoring in the third period.

The fourth period saw UCLA continue its dominance, winning the quarter, 5-1, to provide the 13-6 final. Chase Dodd (7:37) and Ryder Dodd (5:46) each scored their second of the game to push the lead to 10-5. After a goal by Stanford (5:17) trimmed the Bruins' lead to 10-6, UCLA rattled off three more scores to finish off the Cardinal. Sophomore Ben Liechty scored his second of the game (4:29) and then redshirt sophomore Frederico Jucá Carsalade scored his first (3:33) with a beautiful backhanded spinner from two meters to double up Stanford at 12-6. Seeing that the Stanford goalie was out of position, Jack Larsen completed his hat trick with a half-tank shot (0:48) to drive the final nail in the coffin, providing the 13-6 final.

Up Next: The Bruins end the regular season at home on "Senior Day" when they host No. 2 USC on Saturday, Nov. 16. The game is slated to start at 1:00 p.m. PT at Dirks Pool at Spieker Aquatics Center. Tickets will need to be purchased and they will go on sale at a later date to be announced.

No. 1 UCLA at No. 2 Stanford (MPSF Contest - Avery Aquatic Center - Game 21)

SCOREBOARD	1	2	3	4	FINAL
No. 1 UCLA	3	3	2	5	13
No. 2 Stanford	2	3	0	1	6

6x5 - UCLA - 1/7 - STAN - 0/2
Penalties - UCLA - 0/1 - STAN - 1/3

UCLA Goals: Jack Larsen 3, Ryder Dodd 2, Ben Liechty 2, Chase Dodd 2, Nico Tierney 2, Frederico Jucá Carsalade 1, Ben Larsen 1
UCLA Saves: Nate Tauscher 13

STAN Goals: Riley Pittman 2, Alex Gheorghe 1, Dash McFarland 1, Grant Watson 1, Jackson Painter 1
STAN Saves: West Temkin 6