The phrase “no rest for the weary” might have well applied to the UCLA women’s water polo team this spring break. After they finished their finals, the Bruins first won a game at home, then packed their bags and nabbed two road victories during the week.
No. 2 UCLA started off its spring break campaign on the night of Friday, March 21 with an 18-7 victory against unranked Harvard. Although UCLA got off to a slow start – the game was tied 2-2 halfway through the first period – the team gradually settled into its rhythm, eventually scoring seven goals to Harvard’s one in the fourth period.
Six days later, the Bruins played the No. 4 Cal Bears in a much closer 11-8 win. Cal led 3-2 after the first period, but UCLA was able to regain its composure and score four unanswered goals on its way to a 6-4 lead at halftime.
“We were excited to play. I think we were doing too much,” said coach Brandon Brooks of the team’s first-quarter performance. “After we settled down a bit, we were really good. I was proud of the way we performed.”
Sophomore attacker Rachel Fattal largely agreed with her coach’s assessment.
“I think we relaxed and settled down more and started playing our game (at) our speed,” Fattal said.
The Bruins also survived a late Golden Bear rally. With five minutes left, UCLA led 10-5, but three Cal goals in less than three minutes brought the game to a close 10-8. A goal from junior attacker Emily Donohoe and a block by redshirt junior goalkeeper Sami Hill, however, helped preserve the Bruins’ lead, and the Bruins closed out the game 11-8.
As Cal came within two points of tying the game for the first time since the second period, Brooks said that all he was thinking was “Hold on.”
“I thought that we started to watch into the clock a little bit and that’s how you get bit,” Brooks said.
After the win against Cal, UCLA traveled that night to Hawaii for a couple days of sun before its game against No. 10 Hawaii.
“I’m pretty excited,” Donohoe said of the trip after the Cal game. “Last time we went was my freshman year and it was a great time. It’s our coach’s hometown and we have a girl on our team who’s from there as well and they just give us the Hawaii experience.”
The Hawaii experience may not have been great for UCLA’s play – the team barely pulled off a 5-4 win and were held scoreless in the fourth period. Ten saves by Hill, including two in the last minute of play, helped UCLA through its second-least productive game offensively this season – and the only time UCLA has been unable to score in the last period.
After this week, UCLA now stands 20-2 overall and 2-0 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. UCLA’s next game is against unranked Cal State Bakersfield in Bakersfield on Saturday.
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