UCLA
California (3rd Place Match)
UCLA Edges Cal to Place Third in MPSF
May 01, 2016 | Women's Water Polo
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. – Despite a late surge by the Golden Bears, the second-ranked UCLA women's water polo team held on for the win over sixth-ranked Cal in the MPSF Finals on Sunday afternoon. With the 7-5 win, the Bruins secured a third-place finish in the MPSF Tournament.
UCLA (24-4, 5-1 MPSF) got on the board first after Charlotte Pratt drew an exclusion on Cal's Stephanie Mutafyan to give the Bruins a 6-on-5 advantage. Ashley Zwirner found Kelsey O'Brien inside, who drilled it past Cal keeper Madeline Trabucco. Within 30 seconds, the Golden Bears knotted the score at 1-1 as Carla Carrega converted a power play. UCLA regained the lead when Lizette Rozeboom netted one from outside off an assist from O'Brien.
Cal's Kindred Paul scored the equalizer on a power play to kick things off in the second period. The Bruins responded with three straight goals to close out the half. First, Mackenzie Barr drew an exclusion on Cal's Molly Quinn and Charlotte Pratt fired one in from up top to convert the power play. Shortly after, Rozeboom netted one low and away. Rozeboom then assisted Barr to extend the lead to 5-2.
Both squads traded goal for goal in the third period. Emily Loughlin netted one for the Bears to put Cal within two, but O'Brien retaliated for the Bruins on a power play to give UCLA a 6-3 lead heading into the final quarter.
Cal notched two straight goals in the fourth to cut the deficit to one. Monahan was called for an exclusion early in the period to give Cal a penalty shot, which Carrega slipped past Musselman. With 3:25 left in the game, the Bears registered another. After a series of turnovers and an exclusion drawn by UCLA, Cal called a timeout with just over a minute to play. UCLA worked the ball around until Zwirner found O'Brien inside, who notched the insurance goal for the Bruins. At the end of regulation, UCLA held a 7-5 advantage over Cal to secure the third-place finish in the MPSF Tournament.
Overall, UCLA assisted on all seven of its goals and converted four of 10 power plays. Defensively, the Bruins tallied eight steals and Musselman registered 11 saves.
Next up, the Bruins learn their fate for the NCAA Championships, to be held May 13-15 at UCLA. The NCAA National Championship Women's Water Polo Selection Show will air Monday, May 2, at 5:00 pm PDT on NCAA.com.
No. 2 UCLA (2, 3, 1, 1 – 7)O'Brien – 3; Rozeboom – 2; Barr, Pratt – 1
No. 6 Cal (1, 1, 1, 2 – 5)
Carrega, Paul – 2; Loughlin – 1
Saves: UCLA (Musselman – 11); Cal (Trabucco – 1; Tagg – 3)
