Another Sunday, another national championship game against crosstown rival Southern Cal. Last Sunday, the Bruins and the Trojans squared off with the 2020 beach volleyball national championship up for grabs. This afternoon, the schools meet again with the NCAA Women’s Water Polo championship at stake.

Yesterday, the Bruins defeated the Stanford Cardinal, 9-7, in the second semifinal to advance to today’s title game. Meanwhile, earlier in the day, Southern Cal cruised past fourth-seeded Arizona State to earn the right to play for the title.

Today’s championship game begins at 3 pm PT and it’s a home game for the Bruins, who are the host for this year’s tournament. The game won’t be televised, but it will be livestreamed on NCAA.com.

Last Time Out

The Bruins blitzed the defending champs early, scoring the first three goals of the game on shots by Katrina Drake, Brooke Maxson and Lexi Liebowitz. Stanford didn’t score until there was 4:13 left in the first quarter. Less than a minute later, Ava Johnson scored the Bruins’ fourth goal of the quarter as UCLA led 4-1 after the first quarter of play.

At that point, it seemed like the Bruins were going to run away with the game. Stanford had other ideas. In fact, the Cardinal held UCLA scoreless in the second quarter while they clawed their way back into things with three goals to tie the game 4-4 at the half.

Stanford even took the lead in the third quarter when Jewel Roemer scored the first goal of the second half. With UCLA trailing for the first time, Brooke Maxson tied the game back up just 21 second later, but Roemer responded 29 seconds after Maxson’s goal and re-took the lead for the Cardinal. Hannah Palmer tied it 6-6 with 3:52 to go in the third and Abbi Hill put UCLA back in front, 7-6, with the final goal of the third quarter. It also turned out to be the game-winner.

Liebowitz began the fourth quarter with her second goal of the game to double UCLA’s lead. With 5:52 to go in the game, Maxson scored her third goal to complete her hat trick.

With the Bruins now up by a score of 9-6, Stanford was running out of time. While they picked up a goal on a penalty shot with 5:18 left, it was the only fourth quarter goal they would score and UCLA earned a 9-7 win.

Southern Cal Trojans

The Trojans have had an amazing season. They are 21-1 so far this season. Southern Cal won their first 13 games of the season and the closest they came to losing a game during that stretch was a 12-11 overtime win over Stanford on April 11. In fact, they didn’t lose a game until the regular season finale. When they did finally lose, it was to the Bruins and UCLA didn’t just barely beat them. They doubled up the Trojans, 13-6.

That win shows that the Bruins have a chance in this afternoon’s game. To be sure, Southern Cal won the first game they played against the Bruins, 5-3.

Outlook

Whenever the Bruins and the Trojans meet, all bets are off. With today’s game also being a national championship game, it’s even tougher to call. Sure, Southern Cal beat UCLA the first time they played during the regular season, but the Bruins are the only team to beat the Trojans all season long.

The only thing for certain this afternoon is that there is no love lost between these squads. It should make for a classic battle for the national title, with UCLA having a slight edge as the home team.

NCAA Women’s Water Polo National Championship

Opponents: #3 seed UCLA Bruins (15-4) vs. #1 seed Southern Cal Trojans (21-1)
When: 3:00 pm PT, Sunday, May 16, 2021
Where: Spieker Aquatics Center, Los Angeles, CA
TV: None
Live Stream: NCAA.com
Live Stats: TheFosh.net

Official Preview

NCAA Tournament Central

Go Bruins!!!

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