It was a disappointing end to an otherwise exciting afternoon for the UCLA women’s water polo team in Palo Alto on Saturday.
The No. 2 Bruins (20-2, 9-1 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) entered the weekend on a 10-game win streak, fresh off a huge victory at home over No. 3 USC. But the No. 1-ranked Stanford Cardinal (20-1, 9-0) proved too tough for the Bruins, defeating UCLA 7-6 in double overtime. It was the first loss for the Bruins since they fell to Stanford at the UC Irvine Tournament in late February.
“We played better against them than we did last time,” coach Adam Krikorian said. “We did a much better job executing, but we missed a lot of early chances to put it in the hole.”
UCLA did not get off to its typical fast start, allowing Stanford to take an early 3-1 lead. The Bruins attempted to get ahead of the Cardinal in the second and third quarter, but for every goal a Bruin was able to score, there was a Cardinal ready and able to balance the scoreboard.
“Stanford came out fighting at the beginning of the game,” Krikorian said. “They scored on the first possession and we just weren’t able to catch up.”
By the fourth quarter, the Bruins finally seemed to have an opportunity to get ahead of the Cardinal. Brittany Rowe scored two goals to tie the game at 5-5. Not to be outdone, Stanford was able to counterattack and take a 6-5 lead. The tying goal came at the last second from the Bruins’ clutch performer, junior Courtney Mathewson. It was Mathewson who scored a similarly dramatic goal to take last year’s national championship over USC.
The Bruins and the Cardinal then played through not one, but two overtime periods. The final blow to the Bruins came from Lauren Silver in the second overtime on a penalty shot with 1:33 left. The shot put the Cardinal up 7-6, and the Bruins were unable to score on their last few possessions.
Lead scorers for the Bruins were Mathewson and Rowe, with two goals each.
Goalkeeper Emily Feher continued her dominant play in the net with nine saves. Feher can add that to her 10-save total from last week’s USC game, which won her the MPSF Mikasa Player of the Week.
“Tactically, we played okay,” Krikorian said. “Where we struggled was in the execution. Our defense played well, but it could have been better. We did OK on our 5-on-6, but we could still use some work.”
Entering the game, Krikorian was most concerned with stopping Stanford’s stellar 6-on-5 attack. While the Bruins were able to hold the Cardinal scoreless in the penalty situation, they weren’t able to score any penalty goals for their own benefit.
Sunday afternoon, the Bruins defeated the No. 8 San Jose State Spartans in San Jose.
“San Jose was tough; they made us work for the win,” Krikorian said. “We were still disappointed from Stanford, but we were able to perform.”
The Bruins have just one game left, at San Diego State Friday, before they begin their postseason quest for a third straight title.