DAVE HILL/ Daily Bruin Senior Staff Winning goal-maker
Coralie Simmons screams for joy after the Bruins
defeated Stanford Sunday 5-4 to claim the NCAA championship title.
NCAA Championship UCLA 5 Stanford
4
By Emily Whichard
Daily Bruin Contributor
PALO ALTO “”mdash; The UCLA women’s water polo team proved
that when it comes to determining the top team in the nation,
it’s not over until it’s over.
With an undefeated season under their belts, a home crowd behind
them and a brand new facility to show off, the Stanford Cardinal
was ready to take home the first NCAA trophy for women’s
water polo as icing on the cake of a stellar season.
But the sweet taste of victory belonged to the Bruins.
UCLA took home the national championship, bringing the
school’s total to 86 with a 5-4 victory over Stanford in the
finals on Sunday.
“All year, no one gave us a shot at the title, not the
media, not the other programs,” UCLA Head Coach Adam
Krikorian said. “We knew if we improved on our power play we
had a shot.”
It was always the power play that Krikorian cited as the main
factor in the Bruins’ four consecutive losses ““ and
only losses ““ to the Cardinal (27-1) throughout the season.
UCLA (19-4) was ready for a change.
“After every loss we went back to the stats and saw the
main reason they beat us was our six-on-five,” Krikorian
said. “We knew that would be the key.”
Krikorian’s foresight was on target as the first five
goals of the game came off power plays. Stanford went up 1-0 on a
six-on-five goal in the first quarter. UCLA came back with two
power play goals of its own from sophomore Ashley Stachowski and
senior Coralie Simmons to finish the first quarter with a 2-1 lead
over the Cardinal.
DAVE HILL/Daily Bruin Senior Staff Thalia Munro
lunges toward Stanford’s Brenda Villa in second
quarter play in Palo Alto Sunday. Stanford scrambled to regain the
advantaged position it is accustomed to, but was 0-2 on six-on-five
plays before finally scoring once in the second quarter.
The Bruins, showing off their newfound confidence in the power
play, scored again on a six-on-five from sophomore Robin
Beauregard. UCLA went into halftime with a 3-2 advantage.
“We knew if we could get an advantage early it would be
something new that they hadn’t experienced all year,”
Krikorian said. “It was definitely a new kind of pressure
they weren’t accustomed to.”
In the third period the Cardinal found a more comfortable
position for themselves, tying the score three-all with just over a
minute remaining.
The Bruins notched another goal with Kelly Heuchan’s first
goal of the day with five seconds left in the third. They entered
the final quarter with a 4-3 lead over the Cardinal.
The six-on-five streak temporarily betrayed the Bruins in the
fourth when Stanford tied the game with a score on a power play
with 3:27 remaining.
But the Cardinal let down its guard just one time too many when
it allowed a turnover with two minutes left to play.
Accustomed to high-pressure games the two Bruin Olympians,
Beauregard and Simmons, found themselves all alone on a breakaway.
Beauregard passed the ball to her fellow Olympic silver medalist,
leaving Simmons all alone with the No. 1 goalie in the nation,
Jackie Frank.
With more fakes than anyone could count and a quickly
approaching Cardinal defense, Simmons showed that an Olympic silver
medal was not enough. She hit the back of the net and threw her
hands in the air toward an ecstatic crowd of blue wigged fans.
“I kind of surprised myself. Jackie put up a good fight,
but I had to score,” Simmons said.
A desperate Stanford team called a timeout with 22 seconds
remaining, but the scoreboard did not change again. The Bruins
clinched the first NCAA title for women’s water polo. As
Krikorian went tumbling into the pool, the sounds of screaming
Bruins overpowered the funeral march being played by the Stanford
band.