Third Time's the Charm? UCLA Women's Water Polo Must Beat Top Seed Stanford to Advance to Title Game
Third Time's the Charm? UCLA Women's Water Polo Must Beat Top Seed Stanford to Advance to Title Game
The Bruins have lost to the Cardinal in both of their previous matchups this season.
Yesterday afternoon, the UCLA women’s water polo team used a five-goal third quarter to overcome a 7-5 halftime deficit as the fourth-seeded Bruins defeated UC Irvine, 14-12 to advance to the this evening’s semifinal against Stanford. Meanwhile, the Cardinal blanked Biola 23-0 to get to tonight’s game against UCLA.
The other two quarterfinal games saw the Princeton Tigers shock the UC Berkeley Golden Bears, 11-9, and Southern Cal top Fresno State, 12-8. The Tigers’ win means that a non-MPSF team will play in the semifinals for the first time since Michigan defeated Arizona State to advance to the semifinals in 2016.
Last Time Out
Against the Anteaters yesterday, the Bruins fell behind early when UCI’s Jessica Lynch scored the first goal of the game with 7:04 to go in the first quarter. Just 51 seconds later, Taylor Smith got UCLA on the scoreboard and tied the game up. With 5:10 left in the period, UCI scored on a powerplay to re-take the lead, but the Bruins’ Lili Gess ties it again on a Bruin powerplay goal just 16 seconds later. The Anteaters re-took the lead again with 4:36 left in the quarter and it looked like that’s how the quarter would end, but Gabby Norris gave Irvine a 4-2 lead with 14 seconds to go.
Lynch’s second goal of the game made it three consecutive goals for UCI to open the scoring in the second quarter. UCLA’s Taylor Smith drew an exclusion with 6:24 left in the half to give the Bruins a powerplay and, 20 seconds later, Sienna Green ended UCLA’s scoring drought and cut Irvine’s lead to 5-3. Brooke Doten made it two in a row for the Bruins when she scored with 5:18 left. UCI picked up a powerplay goal with 3:56 left and an even strength goal with 48 second to go to jump ahead, 7-4. UCLA got one more goal before the end of the half when Ava Johnson picked up a powerplay goal with just 11 seconds to go before the break as the Bruins cut the Anteaters’ lead to 7-5 at the break
Doten opened the scoring in the second half with her second goal of the game with 6:54 left in the third quarter to pull the Bruins within one, but Lynch completed her hat trick 44 seconds later for UCI. The score remained 8-6 until Johnson added her second goal for the Bruins with 3:47 left in the third. Then, with 1:23 left, Katrina Drake got the equalizer for UCLA. The Bruins took the lead for the first time when Molly Renner scored on a penalty shot with 39 seconds to go in the quarter, but it was short-lived as Elena Flynn tied it up for the Anteaters just 14 seconds later. UCLA scored one more time before the quarter ended when Val Ayala put the ball in the net with just four seconds to go, giving the Bruins a 10-9 edge after three.
In the fourth quarter, the teams alternate goals. Flynn picked up a powerplay goal for the Anteaters with 6:57 left to tie it up again and Drake re-took the lead for the Bruins with her second goal with 5:42 to go. Flynn tied it again with 5:06 left, but Ava Johnson earned her hat trick just 17 seconds later to give the Bruins the lead again. But Flynn scored her third goal of the quarter with 4:29 left on another powerplay goal and the game was tied 12-12. Emma Lineback’s goal just 17 seconds later put UCLA ahead for good and Val Ayala’s second goal of the game, which came with 1:48 to go, finally gave UCLA some breathing room, 14-12,and was the final goal of the game.
Stanford Cardinal
The Bruins face a familiar foe this evening when they take on the Stanford Cardinal. UCLA has lost the previous two meetings this season. On March 11, the Bruins went to Palo Alto and lost, 18-13. Two weeks ago, at the MPSF Championship in a neutral pool in San Jose, UCLA led 4-3 after a quarter of play, but the Cardinal outscored the Bruins, 4-1, in the second quarter and UCLA couldn’t overcome that.
Stanford opened the season by winning ther first 16 games and they haven’t lost in more than a month. Their only loss of the season came on April 6 on the road at Southern Cal when they fell, 17-12.
There’s no doubt that it is going to take a tremendous effort for the Bruins to knock off the defending champs today. After all, the Cardinal has lost just three games over the past two seasons, but UCLA came close to topping Stanford in the MPSF Tournament. So, a win today is possible, even if it’s unlikely.
NCAA Women’s Water Polo Tournament Quarterfinals
Opponents: #4 UCLA Women’s Water Polo (21-7) vs. #1 Stanford Cardinal (22-1)
When: 5:00 pm PT, Saturday, May 13, 2023
Where: Kjeldsen Pool at the Eberhardt Aquatic Center, Stockton, CA
TV: None
Live Stream: NCAA.com
Live Stats: TheFosh.net
Official NCAA Tournament Preview
Go Bruins!!!
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