BERKELEY – UCLA jumped out to an early lead and maintained its advantage throughout the contest, defeating Cal, 13-8, Saturday in an MPSF showdown at Spieker Aquatics Complex. The Golden Bears (17-3, 1-1) were led by two goals apiece from senior Aleksa Saponjic and redshirt freshman J.D. Ratchford, while the Bruins (19-2, 3-0) were led by five goals from Gordon Marshall.

UCLA scored the first two goals of the opening period on shots by Marshall and Cristiano Mirarchi, before Cal responded when Saponjic nailed a five-meter penalty shot and freshman standout Luca Cupido scored on a strong inside move to tie the game, 2-2.

Unfortunately for the Bears, the Bruins came back with two goals from Paul Reynolds in the last minute of the first period and never looked back. Cal was able to get within a goal, 7-6, in the second quarter on a right side skip shot by senior Blake Kelly, but UCLA finished the first half with two more goals and then outscored Kirk Everist's squad, 3-0, in the third period.

The Bears got a spark at the beginning of the fourth period on two straight goals from Ratchford to get within, 12-8, yet that was as close Cal would get as the Bears fell for only the third time in 20 matches this season.

“They (UCLA) were the aggressors early and we made some mistakes on defense,” said Everist. “We were able to get within a goal, but then we allowed them score twice at the end of the half and that changed the tempo of the game. We are disappointed with the loss, but it is a long season and we'll learn from this and keep on improving.”

Cal will next travel to southern California for a pair of MPSF matches, facing Pepperdine on Saturday, Oct. 25 and UC Irvine on Sunday, Oct. 26, with both matches starting at noon.

UCLA 4 5 3 1 -- 13

Cal    2 4 0 2 – 8

UCLA: Gordon Marshall 5, Paul Reynolds 3, Cristiano Mirarchi 2, Chancellor Remirez, Ryder Roberts,

Christopher Meinhold.

Cal: Aleksa Saponjic 2, J.D. Ratchford 2, Blake Kelly, Farrel South, Luca Cupido, Colin Mulcahy.

Saves: Garrett Danner (UCLA) 9; Jon Sibley (Cal) 5; Lazar Andric (Cal) 3.