UCLA Defeats Stanford to Win Water Polo Title

Stung by two late Stanford goals at the end of regulation, the UCLA men’s water polo team came up with some clutch play of its own in the second overtime period to become national champions again.

Logan Powell scored on a rebound with 12.3 seconds left and Bruin goalkeeper Joe Axelrad made a late save on Stanford’s Tony Azevedo to preserve a 10-9 victory for UCLA in the NCAA championship match Sunday at Palo Alto.

UCLA (25-3) won its eighth national championship and third under Coach Adam Krikorian.

Powell’s goal capped a rally in the second overtime and stunned a standing-room-only crowd at Stanford’s Avery Aquatic Center. The sophomore attacker grabbed the skipping ball across the cage and fired it past Chad Taylor after the Stanford goalie made an initial save on UCLA’s Josh Hewko.

After the teams scored once in the first three-minute overtime period, Stanford took a 9-8 lead when Peter Varellas cleanly beat Axelrad with a high shot.

UCLA responded with the tying goal on a man-advantage as Ted Peck received a pass in the two-meter zone and drilled it by Taylor with 32 seconds left.

Loyola Marymount, keyed by Endre Rex-Kiss’ match-leading three goals, took third place with a 6-5 victory over Princeton.

-- Eric Stephens

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Cal Baptist won the NAIA volleyball championship with a 30-23, 30-27, 32-34, 30-16 over Concordia at San Diego.

Golf

England’s Brian Davis shot a four-under-par 68 and took a six-shot lead after the fifth round of the PGA Tour’s 108-hole qualifying tournament at La Quinta.

Davis, an eight-year member of the European PGA Tour, played through a drizzle and temperatures in the upper 40s on the Nicklaus Tournament Course at PGA West, moving to 19-under 341.

The top 30 and ties receive 2005 PGA Tour cards. The next 50 will get Nationwide Tour cards, and the remaining players will receive conditional Nationwide Tour status.

Notable players include seven-time PGA Tour winner Bill Glasson (tied for seventh at 11 under) and 1987 U.S. Open winner Scott Simpson (tied for 106th at four over).

Six months from high school graduation, Paula Creamer earned her LPGA Tour card by closing with a two-under 70 for a five-shot victory in the qualifying tournament at Daytona Beach, Fla.

“This hasn’t sunk in yet,” Creamer said. “I’m really thrilled and I’m really anxious to get started.”

Among the 30 women who earned their cards was another 18-year-old, Brittany Lincicome, who held the first-round lead at the U.S. Women’s Open this year. She closed with a 68 and tied for 20th.

Winter Sports

Benjamin Raich of Austria held off teammate Rainer Schoenfelder and Giorgio Rocca of Italy to win the first slalom of the World Cup season at Beaver Creek, Colo., while overall leader Bode Miller skied out for a second straight race.

Miller still leads the standings with 480 points. Hermann Maier of Austria, who did not race Sunday, is second with 274.

Michaela Dorfmeister of Austria cut through falling snow to win the first women’s World Cup super giant slalom of the season at Lake Louise, Canada. Dorfmeister finished in 1 minute 16.24 seconds. Teammate Renate Goetschl was second in 1:16.39, followed by Lindsey Kildow of the United States in 1:16.64.

Todd Hays of the U.S. led his bobsled team to a World Cup victory at Altenberg, Germany, the second time he has won the four-man event this season. Russia’s Alexander Subkov finished second.

Hays kept his lead in the World Cup standings with 200 points followed by Subkov at 180.

Germany won the team event in World Cup luge at Lake Placid, N.Y., behind a singles victory by world champion David Moller. Italy was second, followed by Austria.

Miscellany

Longtime Phoenix sports executive Jerry Colangelo, 65, has prostate cancer and will have surgery Dec. 30 in New York.

Colangelo is the Phoenix Suns’ chairman and also headed the move to bring major league baseball to Phoenix and until recently was managing general partner of the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Passings

Tom Fitzgerald, who coached the UCLA men’s soccer team to a national title in 2002, died after a motorcycle accident in Tampa, Fla. Story, Section B.