W. polo: Rulon comes through in the clutch in title run

ANN ARBOR, Mich -“”mdash; With Thalia Munro stricken by early
foul trouble in Saturday’s semifinal game against
Hawai’i and Natalie Golda blanketed by multiple defenders, it
appeared UCLA was finally vulnerable.

Yet Kelly Rulon made sure the Bruins’ perfect season
remained just that, single-handedly keeping the Bruins’ title
hopes alive against the Rainbow Wahine.

Scoring two of her game-high three goals in the first period,
Rulon kept the Bruins close against a Rainbow Wahine offense that
exploded for four goals of its own in that period. Rulon’s
third goal to tie the game in the third quarter wiped away
UCLA’s last deficit of the contest.

“Definitely at times, we counted on her,” UCLA coach
Adam Krikorian said. “I really have a lot of confidence in
her in big-time situations for her to come through for us.

“I think she is in a lot of ways, as crazy as it sounds, a
little underrated. She’s a clutch performer and she’s a
hell of a player.”

The Point Loma native, who was an integral member of this
year’s team, finished the season with 70 goals, the
second-highest total in UCLA history, just four behind Coralie
Simmons’ record-setting 74 in 1998.

Though Rulon was unaware of where she stands in the record
books, she remained modest about her accomplishments.

“I never thought I would score this many goals,”
said Rulon with a beaming smile. “Fifty if I was lucky.
It’s hard to tie someone’s record like Coralie.
That’s someone you look up to when you play water polo. But
it’s not about goals, it’s about winning a
championship.”

Winning championships is often the result of players coming up
with key plays, and Rulon wasn’t the only Bruin to propel her
team to the national title.

Relegated to a reserve spot this season after leading the Bruins
in scoring last year, junior center forward Kristina Kunkel scored
the go-ahead goal in Saturday’s semifinal, breaking a 6-6
deadlock to give the Bruins a one-goal lead that would be preserved
until the game’s final whistle.

UCLA played a picturesque possession to set up Kunkel’s
goal, with every single player getting a touch at the ball from all
sides of the pool. The crisp passing set up Kunkel, who was trying
to muscle for position at two-meters. Junior Thalia Munro found an
opening and lobbed a pass to Kunkel, who powered home a skip shot
that barely trickled in past Hawai’i goalie Meike De
Nooy.

“I think it was one of the ugliest goals of the season,
but it worked,” Kunkel said. “It was a great pass from
everyone, but it wasn’t my goal. I just flung it in. It was
T-bone’s (Munro’s) pass. Gaby’s pass,
Natalie’s pass. It was a team effort.”

Kunkel’s heroics wouldn’t stop there, as she proved
pivotal in the waning moments of Sunday’s championship
final.

With Stanford driving down by one goal with just under one
minute to play in the fourth period, Cardinal Christina Hewko was
able to draw an ejection, giving Stanford a 6-on-5 possession with
36 seconds remaining in the game.

While the Cardinal worked the ball across the pool in an attempt
to create some type of action or movement on offense,
Stanford’s final pass was intercepted by Kunkel, who nabbed
the ball in mid-air.

All the Bruins had to do from there was hold on to the ball and
watch the time run off the clock.

“Right place at the right time,” Kunkel said.
“We talk about things before games. And we plan on what you
think teams are going to do. You prepare for what you expect and
sometimes it works out the right way.”

And for the Bruins, having the play of Rulon and Kunkel pick up
at the right second just seemed to work out the right way.

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