The first time the UCLA women’s water polo team played Loyola Marymount this season, it was on a warm, sunny day at home and the Bruins won 15-6.
This Saturday, the Bruins (16-2) made the short trip to Marina Del Rey for a game on a cold, rainy afternoon. While the conditions for this game were almost the opposite of the first one, the result was nearly identical: the Bruins won, 14-6.
The game opened with a standout performance by sophomore attacker Rachel Fattal, who scored three unanswered goals in the opening quarter.
After running up the early lead, UCLA settled into more of a team effort, allowing six other players to score while rotating in most of the bench. Senior attacker Victoria Kent was able to score once in each of the last three quarters to equal Fattal’s hat trick.
The Bruins maintained a strong team performance in the net as well, with redshirt junior goalkeeper Sami Hill taking the fourth quarter off as sophomore Alex Musselman filled in for her.
While the Bruins are now playing single games as opposed to the tournaments they started the season with, their team effort against LMU mirrored how they have played most of their games so far this season – a strong first quarter or half, followed by a rotation through the bench to keep the starters rested.
Whether this style of play will be continued against No. 5 Arizona State at home next Sunday remains to be seen.
Compiled by Erik Rehnberg, Bruin Sports contributor.