UCLA
Hawai'i
No. 3 UCLA Blasts No. 5 Hawai'i, 12-8
February 01, 2019 | Women's Water Polo
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LOS ANGELESย --ย No. 3 UCLA (8-0) won the battle of undefeated teams with a 12-8 win over No. 5 Hawai'i (4-1) in the Bruins' 2019 home opener at Dirks Pool at Spiekerย Aquatics Center on Friday night.
In the win over the Rainbow Wahine, the Bruins were led by junior Maddie Musselman, who tied her career-high of five goals for the fifth time. Junior Bronte Halliganย scored a hat trick while freshman Val Ayala chipped in two scores. Senior Carlee Kapanaย got the starting nod in the cage for UCLA and had a solid outing with nine saves while allowing four goals in three quarters of actioni. Sophomore Jahmea Bent came on in relief in the fourth period and made two saves, one on a penalty shot, while allowing four scores.
The Bruins jumped out to a 3-0 lead at tje end of the first period. Musselmanย got the Bruins on the board first with a top-shelf bar-in heater to put UCLA up 1-0 (3:26). She then netted her second of the game on a 6-on-5 opportunity to put the Bruins up 2-0 at the 2:05 mark. Sophomore Roxy Wheaton ended the scoring in the first period with a counter attack strike with 0:36 remaining to put the Bruins up 3-0.
Maxine Schaapย got the Rainbow Wahine on the board to open the scoring in the second period with a power play goal (7:17) to trim the Bruins' lead to 3-1. But Ayala answered with a power play goal for the Bruins (5:37) off a nice pass from senior Grace Reego. Elyse Lemay-Lavoie picked up a loose ball at two meters and scored on a broken play (3:24) to cut the lead to 4-2. But the Bruins closed out the period with three straight scores, including a skip shot from the front court by Halligan (2:26), a counter score from Musselman (1:56) and a power play goal from Musselman, her fourth of the first half (0:19), to give UCLA a 7-2 lead at the break.
Ayala made it four straight goals by UCLA to open the scoring in the third period with a strong bar-in cross-cage shot (7:33) to push the lead to 8-2. The two teams would trade goals for the rest of the period as Irene Gonzalez scored for Hawai'i with a lob shot (3:19) and Halligan answering on the next possession (2:50) with a power play goal off a feed from freshman Bella Baia. Laleleiย Mata'afaย capped the scoring at the buzzer for Hawai'i with a backhanded shot from set with UCLA leading 9-4 heading into the fourth.
The final stanza was an offensive explosion with Hawai'i winning the period, 4-3. Both teams traded goals yet again with UH never getting closer than four goals. Musselmanย netted her fifth of the game on a 6-on-5 opportunity (5:17) while Halligan completed her hat trick on a penalty shot (3:29). Senior Rachel Whiteleggeย scored on a nifty lob shot (2:36) to extend the lead to 12-7. Hawai'i's Samantha Malouffย scored the final goal of the game from the front court (0:57) to provide the 12-8 final.
The Bruins return to action tomorrow when the host the UCLA Mini-Tournament, beginning with No. 15 Loyola Marymount at 8:30 a.m. PT.
No. 5 Hawai'i atย No. 3ย UCLA (2019 Home Opener)
| SCOREBOARD | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | FINAL |
| No. 5 Hawai'i | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 8 |
| No.ย 3 UCLA | 3 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 12 |
6x5 -ย UCLA - 5/8 - UH - 1/7
Penalties -ย UCLA - 1/1 - UH - 1/2
UH Goals:ย Alba Bonamusa Boix 2, Elyse Lemay-Lavoie 2, Samantha Malouff 1, Lalelei Mata'afa 1, Maxine Schaap 1, Irene Gonzalez 1
UH Saves:ย Bridget Layburn 3
UCLA Goals:ย Maddie Musselmanย 5, Bronte Halliganย 3, Val Ayala 2, Rachel Whiteleggeย 1, Roxy Wheaton 1
UCLA Saves:ย Carlee Kapanaย 9, Jahmea Bent 2
