UCLA
California (Semifinals)
Fourth-Quarter Rally Pushes UCLA Past Cal
April 29, 2017 | Women's Water Polo
LOS ANGELES โ The top-seeded UCLA women's water polo team overcame two second-half deficits to top fifth-seeded California, 9-8, and advance to Sunday's MPSF Championship Tournament final. Maddie Musselman led the way for the Bruins with three goals, while Rachel Fattal contributed a key field block on the Golden Bears' final possession of the game.
The regular-season champion Bruins did not take long to get started, as Alys Williams took advantage of an early California penalty to net the game's opening goal at 7:41 of the first frame. Fellow redshirt senior Kodi Hill followed suit with an even-strength score at 5:46 to give the Bruins a multi-goal advantage. A Bronte Halligan penalty allowed the Golden Bears a shot from five meters and Dora Antal converted to cut the Bruin lead in half. Emily Loughlin tied it up with a power-play goal at 3:19 to begin a stretch of four alternating scores. Musselman posted her first at 2:01 and Rachel Lewin followed with yet another six-on-five goal for the Golden Bears to knot the game at three apiece after one.
Fattal scored one from distance just 30 seconds into the second quarter to kick-start a Bruin rally. Mackenzie Barr pushed the advantage to 5-3 at 6:11 of the quarter and Fattal added another during a power-play to give the Bruins a game-high three-goal lead. The Golden Bears would not go away, however, as Lewin posted her second (1:47) and Anna Illes converted on a penalty shot with just under a minute to go in the half.
After cutting the halftime deficit to just one at 6-5, the Golden Bears took momentum into the third quarter. Cal's Madeline Trabucco tallied five of her nine saves in the third, while Stephanie Mutafyan (4:14) and Carla Carrega (3:13) each found the back of the net to give the Golden Bears their first lead of the game. Musselman eventually answered with a penalty shot at 1:40 of the third, but fellow freshman Emma Wright was able to answer to give California an 8-7 lead heading into the final frame.
While the third belonged to Trabucco, the fourth belonged to the Bruin defense and Carlee Kapana. UCLA's netminder posted two of her five saves in the fourth quarter to give the Bruins more time to establish their offense late. Ultimately, the UCLA fourth-quarter offense belonged to the freshmen, as Musselman finished off her hat trick with the game's tying goal at 3:15, while Halligan posted the game winner at 2:35. The final defensive stop came from one of the longest-tenured Bruins, though, as Fattal stopped the Golden Bears last shot to all-but-seal the UCLA victory.
#1 UCLA gets a field block in the final possession of #5 Cal's power-play to win 9-8! Bruins advance to tomorrow's final @ 2:30! #GoBruins pic.twitter.com/EosaLesYSY
— UCLA Water Polo (@UCLAWaterPolo) April 29, 2017
The Bruins now move to the championship game, where they will meet second-seeded Stanford. The Cardinal defeated third-seeded USC in Saturday's earlier semifinal, 6-5. The teams have met once this season, as UCLA upset then-top-ranked Stanford, 10-9, two weeks ago at Avery Aquatics Center.
No. 5 California (3, 2, 3, 0 โ 8)
Lewin โ 2; Antal, Carrega, Illes, Loughlin, Lutafyan, Wright โ 1
No. 1 UCLA (3, 3, 1, 2 โ 9)
Musselman โ 3; Fattal โ 2; Barr, Halligan, Hill, Williams โ 1
