UCLA
20-0
California
13-5
No. 1 UCLA Gets Huge Road Win at No. 5 California, 7-6
April 13, 2024 | Women's Water Polo
LOS ANGELESย --ย Top-ranked UCLA (20-0, 5-0 MPSF) remained undefeated on the year with a huge 7-6 road win at No. 5 California (13-5, 2-2 MPSF)ย on Saturday afternoon at Spieker Aquatics Complex. With the win, UCLA improved to 63-14 all-time against the Golden Bears.
UCLA had just four different players score in the contest, paced by a hat trick from senior Malia Allen. She also added an assist to finish with game-high scoring honors for the Bruins with four points. Graduate student Brooke Doten chipped in two scores to become the only other multiple goal scorer for the Bruins. Graduate student Hannah Palmer and junior Molly Renner each scored three points (two assists and a goal).
Steele got the start in the cage and went the distance, recording 20 saves (one off of her own UCLA freshman record of 21 in a win at No. 10 UC Irvine on Feb. 24). She and the Bruins' defense held California to a season-low-tyingย six goals.
California won the first period, 2-1. Allen scored the first goal of the game as she walked it in and scored in the top left corner (7:09).
The Bruins pitched a shutout in the second period and scored twice to take a 3-2 lead into the break. Doten opened the scoring in the second with a strike from two meters off a feed from Allen (4:33) to tie the game at 2-2. Then Dotenย took a perfect feed from freshman Panni Szegedi to put the Bruins back in front (2:19), ending the scoring in the first half.
Both teams battled to a 2-2 draw in the third with UCLA taking a 5-4 lead into the final stanza. After the Golden Bears tied it at 3-3, Palmer scored a bar-in shot on a power play (3:43) put UCLA in front, 4-3. Then after Cal tied it again, Allen scored her second off a feed from Renner (0:11) to end the scoring in the third.
Again the two teams battled to a 2-2 draw in the fourth. After Cal tied it at 5-5, Renner scored on a near-side skip shot on a power play (5:20) and off a feed from Palmer to put the Bruins up 6-5. Then the first two-goal lead for either team occurred after Allen completed her hat trick (4:45) to push the lead to 7-5. California would pull to within one goal at 7-6 with 2:23 remaining. The Bruins' defense went to work down the stretch, getting a nice save from Steele and a steal by Smith with under a minute left. Then the Bruins' sophomore utility drew a crucial exclusion with 0:24 left that allowed the Bruins to run out the clock and preserve the win.
UP NEXT: The Bruins close out the regular season at No. 4 USCย on Saturday, April 20ย at 2:00 p.m.
No. 1 UCLA at No. 5 California (MPSF Contest - Game 20)
| SCOREBOARD | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | FINAL |
| No. 1 UCLA | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 7 |
| No. 5 California | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 6 |
6x5 -ย UCLA - 3/10ย - CAL - 1/6
Penalties -ย UCLA - 0/1ย - CAL - 0/0
CAL Goals:ย Elena Flynn 3, Maryn Dempsey 1,ย Feline Voordouw 1, Reagan Whitney 1
CAL Saves:ย Isabel Williams 10
UCLA Goals:ย Malia Allen 3, Brooke Dotenย 2, Hannah Palmer 1, Molly Renner 1
UCLA Saves:ย Lauren Steele 20
ย
Team Stats
Malia Allen
07:09
Maryn Dempsey
06:05
Feline Voordouw
01:52
Brooke Doten
04:33
Brooke Doten
02:19
Elena Flynn
06:27
Hannah Palmer
03:43
Reagan Whitney
03:19
Malia Allen
00:11
Elena Flynn
06:41
Molly Renner
05:20
Malia Allen
04:45
Elena Flynn
02:23
