The tables were turned for the UCLA women’s water polo team this weekend. After starting the season with 11 straight wins, UCLA lost 8-4 to Stanford in the last of four games the team played this weekend.
No. 3 UCLA started the weekend with a 12-3 victory over then-No. 14 Michigan in a performance that mirrored the dominance the team has showed so far this season. Eight Bruins scored, with four goals coming from senior utility Becca Dorst.
Saturday afternoon, UCLA faced its first real test of the season in a 10-9 overtime victory over No. 4 California. Junior attacker Emily Donohoe scored the winning goal with just 17 seconds left in overtime.
Despite the additional challenge, Dorst was glad to be playing other elite teams for the first time this season.
“It’s always fun to play good competition because it reminds you what you practice for,” she said.
In spite of the win, coach Brandon Brooks thought the game could have gone better.
“I think we didn’t get that into it,” he said. “We need to have more killer instinct.”
On Sunday morning, the Bruins easily knocked off then-No. 12 San Jose State in a 14-6 game, setting up a UCLA-Stanford matchup in the tournament’s championship game. The last time the Bruins saw the Cardinal in the pool was during last year’s NCAA championship game. In that game, strong defense from both teams and impressive performances from both goalies kept the score to 5-3.
After being held to a 3-2 lead in the first half, Stanford blew the game open with three unanswered goals in the third period. UCLA scored twice in the fourth period, but Stanford answered with two goals of its own, ending the game with a four-point lead.
“We were 85-90 percent great, with 10 percent lapses” Brooks said of the game. “We’ve played well enough to be third in the country, but that’s not where we want to be.”
Although he was disappointed in how the weekend ended, Brooks remained optimistic about the season as a whole.
“We come away (from the tournament) with a measuring stick of where we are. We come away with some definite things to work on. From an NCAA long-range goal standpoint, we’re ok,” he said.
The Bruins now have a week off before traveling to UC Irvine for a game on February 13.