UCLA
Hawaii Manoa
Bruins Hand Rainbow Wahine First Loss of Season, 14-3
March 10, 2001 | Women's Water Polo
March 10, 2001
Westwood, CA- The No. 2 UCLA Bruins combined an aggressive offense attack with a tough defense to defeat the No. 8 Hawaii Rainbow Wahine, 14-3, in an MPSF matchup at the Sunset Recreation Center this afternoon. The win snaps Hawaii's school record ten game winning streak while extending UCLA's win streak to four. The Bruins have now won seven games in a row at home, dating back to last season. UCLA's all-time record against Hawaii moves to 12-0.
Again leading the way for the Bruins was senior captain Coralie Simmons. Simmons scored a season-high four goals for the second straight game. Senior Kristin Guerin, junior Kelly Heuchan, and sophomore Maureen Flanagan scored two goals a piece for UCLA. Junior Jenny Lamb, sophomore Jessica Lopez, freshman Natalie Golda, and freshman Thalia Munro all added a single goal. Sophomore goalkeeper Jaime Hipp had five saves in three quarters and fellow sophomore Kelly Hall stopped two more in the final period. The Bruins now move to 10-2 on the season with a 5-0 record in the MPSF.
Junior Christi Bardecki, who recorded two goals in the game, led the Rainbow Wahine. Also scoring for Hawaii was senior Many Crawford. In goal, junior Christa Tackaberry saved nine balls from hitting the back of the net. Hawaii falls to 10-1 and is now 1-1 in MPSF conference play.
Similar to what they have been doing all season, UCLA scored early and often to put the game out of reach before half-time. Coralie Simmons and Kelly Heuchan combined for the Bruins four goals in the first quarter. Heuchan led off the scoring, on an assist from Jenny Lamb, with 5:28 in the opening period. Less than a minute later, Simmons added a goal on the counterattack. Heuchan scored her second goal at the 4:04 mark and Simmons added her second at 2:55. Hawaii snuck a goal in with less than three seconds remaining, to cut the lead to 4-1, heading into the second quarter.
The Bruins continued to play tough defense, shutting the Rainbow Wahine out in the second. Hawaii native, Maureen Flanagan, got on the board with a goal at 5:20, giving the Bruins a 5-1 lead. UCLA turned their defense into instant offense when Lamb and Simmons each scored off of Hawaii turnovers. Kristin Guerin added two late goals to put the Bruins up 9-1 at the half.
In the third, after goals by Jessica Lopez and Simmons, the starters were pulled and the UCLA bench finished out the last quarter and a half. Flanagan added her second goal of the game with 2:33 in the third to push the lead up to 12-1.
The Rainbow Wahine scored back to back goals in the opening two minutes of the fourth, getting goals from Mandy Crawford and Christa Bardecki, making the score 12-3. The Bruins responded with goals from their two freshmen, Natalie Golda and Thalia Munro, to close out the scoring.
The Bruins finish the three game homestand tomorrow, March 11th, against No. 5 Long Beach State at noon.
Scoring 1 2 3 4 Final Hawaii 1 0 0 2 3 UCLA 4 5 3 2 14
Hawaii Goals: Christi Bardecki -2, Mandy Crawford.
UCLA Goals: Coralie Simmons -4, Maureen Flanagan -2, Kristin Guerin -2, Kelly Heuchan -2, Natalie Golda, Jenny Lamb, Jessica Lopez, Thalia Munro.
Saves: Hawaii: Christa Tackaberry- 9
UCLA: Hipp-5, Hall-2
