On Wednesday afternoon at Sunset Canyon Recreation Center, the
top-ranked UCLA women’s water polo team further staked its
claim to being the greatest women’s water polo team of all
time. After uncharacteristically falling behind early in the second
quarter to fifth-ranked Long Beach State, the Bruins rallied to
defeat the 49ers 12-8 and close out the regular season without a
blemish on their record. Senior Natalie Golda, playing in the last
home game of her collegiate career, stated that going undefeated
during the regular season stood out as another amazing achievement
in her four years playing for the Bruins (27-0, 12-0 MPSF).
“Going undefeated is an amazing accomplishment,” Golda
said. “I’ve really never thought about going
undefeated. You always think you’re going to lose one or two
games especially in water polo. Anybody can win on any given
day.” UCLA coach Adam Krikorian had talked to his team about
the possibility of going undefeated before, but this was not the
team’s emphasis. “It was mentioned occasionally, but in
a casual kind of way,” said Krikorian, whose team became just
the second collegiate women’s water polo team to go
undefeated during the regular season since the sport was recognized
as an official NCAA sport in 2001. “I’m pleased with
how the first 27 games went, but we’ve been looking forward
to end of the season all year. Going undefeated was not our goal.
Winning the national championship is our goal this season.”
Early on in the game, it appeared that the 49ers (19-6, 8-3) would
foil the Bruins’ perfect record, leading 4-3 late in the
second period. But the Bruins managed to prevail with the arm of
freshman Gabrielle Domanic, who tallied two of her game-leading
four goals in that second period. Her goals gave UCLA a lead it
would never relinquish. “We’ve been down before, but
we’re really good at keeping composure,” Domanic said.
“The game wasn’t over. It was still early, and we knew
we still had to keep attacking.” After the early deficit,
UCLA went on a 6-1 run with the help of sophomores Molly Cahill and
Kelly Rulon, giving the Bruins their largest lead at 10-5 with just
one period left.
HEINECK SIGHTING: Junior driver Lauren Heineck, who suffered a
concussion during practice nearly a month ago, suited up for
Wednesday’s game. Though her health is improved, Krikorian is
still uncertain of whether she will be ready to play in time for
the conference championships. “We’re going to play it
by ear. Hopefully she is,” Krikorian said. “Her head
will tell her whether she is or not. “To kind of feel part of
the team, it was really good (for Heineck). The girls were excited
to see her part of the group, in the lineup.”
With reports from Bryan Chu, Bruin Sports senior
staff