UCLA
19-0
Stanford
14-4
No. 1 UCLA Crushes the Cardinal, 15-8
March 30, 2024 | Women's Water Polo
LOS ANGELESย --ย Top-ranked UCLA (19-0, 4-0 MPSF) remained undefeated on the year with a 15-8 dismantling of the third-ranked Stanford Cardinal on Saturday afternoon on Senior Day at Dirks Pool at Spieker Aquatics Center. The win was the second-largest margin of victory against Stanford, trailing only an 11-3 win in 1998. With the win, UCLA improved to 39-60ย all-time against the Cardinal.
UCLA had a total of eight different players score in the contest, paced by a career-high six goals from senior Malia Allen. The six goals was the most by a Bruin since Maddie Musselman also scored six in a win at No. 6 Michigan in 2022. Starting freshman goalkeeper Lauren Steele and freshman Natasha Kieckhafer each scored twice for the Bruins. Allen finished the game with nine points as she also contributed three assists.
Steele got the start in the cage and played all but the final 2:15 of the fourth quarter, tallying 10 saves and two stealsย while allowing the Cardinal eightย goals. Senior Sydney Chiang came in relief for the final 2:15 of the game and picked up a pair of saves without allowing the Cardinal a score.
The Bruins trailed 6-5 with 0:42 remaining in the second quarter. After the Cardinal scored, Steele caught Stanford's coach having a conversation with the Stanford keeper and when the official blew the whistle to start the Bruins' offensive possession, she fired the ball from over half tank into the back of the net (0:39) for her first goal of the game. Then after the Bruins got a stop on the next possession, Steele called her own number on the 7-on-6, beating the buzzer to give UCLA a 7-6 advantage at the break.
The Bruins would pitch a shutout in the third while posting four scores on the board to take an 11-6 lead into the final stanza. UCLA would stretch its lead to seven goals at 13-6 as sophomore Anna Pearson scored the Bruins' eighth unansweredย goal on a power play at the 6:27 mark of the fourth. Each team would score twice more to provide the 15-8 final.
UP NEXT: The Bruins have next week off and will return to action at California on Saturday, April 13 at 1:00 p.m.
No. 3 Stanford atย No. 1 UCLA (MPSF Contest - Senior Day - Game 19)
| SCOREBOARD | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | FINAL |
| No. 3 Stanford | 3 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 8 |
| No. 1 UCLA | 2 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 15 |
6x5 -ย UCLA - 6/10ย - STAN - 3/7
Penalties -ย UCLA - 0/1ย - STAN - 0/0
STAN Goals:ย Sophia Sanders 2, Eleanor Facey 2, Kamryn Barone 1,ย Christina Hicks 1, Sophie Wallace 1, Celeste Wijnbelt 1
STAN Saves:ย Maya Avital 5
UCLA Goals:ย Malia Allen 6, Lauren Steele 2, Natasha Kieckhafer 2, Hannah Palmer 1, Genoa Rossi 1, Anna Pearson 1, Nicole Struss 1, Panni Szegedi 1
UCLA Saves:ย Lauren Steele 10, Sydney Chiang 2
ย
Team Stats
Kamryn Barone
06:08
Malia Allen
05:38
Sophie Wallace
05:09
Nicole Struss
03:27
Eleanor Facey
01:33
Sophia Sanders
07:06
Natasha Kieckhafer
04:32
Natasha Kieckhafer
03:31
Malia Allen
02:51
Christina Hicks
01:20
Eleanor Facey
00:42
Lauren Steele
00:39
Lauren Steele
00:01
Panni Szegedi
03:56
Genoa Rossi
03:08
Malia Allen
01:47
Hannah Palmer
00:54
Malia Allen
07:29
Anna Pearson
06:27
Sophia Sanders
05:47
Celeste Wijnbelt
05:03
Malia Allen
04:27
Malia Allen
02:44
