It all started with the Women’s Water Polo Top 20 Poll
that came out last week.
UCLA was dropped to the No. 3 rank in the nation, USC took over
the No. 2 seed and Stanford remained on its pedestal at No. 1.
“All of us knew we shouldn’t have been ranked third.
“¦ It was a slap in the face because we know we are a lot
better than that,” UCLA junior Natalie Golda said.
The Bruins proved their talent in convincing fashion this past
weekend at the UC Santa Barbara Tournament, where they made a
strong case for the top ranking in the NCAA.
Like Mike Tyson and his first round knockouts against lesser
known opponents, the UCLA women’s water polo team wasted
little time with two early opponents in the tournament. No. 3 UCLA
opened the weekend against the Redland Bulldogs and dominated the
game on both ends of the pool. Led by Mari Joyce who scored three
goals, and six other players with one or more goals, the Bruins
drowned the Bulldogs 14-2.
The Bruins had their “mojo,” a phrase coined by the
team, working against Loyola Marymount in the second round with the
help of leading scorer Natalie Golda’s right arm, which
connected on a career high six goals in a 12-5 win.
“I was hot. “¦ They were leaving me open. “¦
They didn’t press out on me like other teams do,” said
Golda about her offensive explosion.
The Bruins were also able to fix one of their early-season
problems: defense. UCLA only gave up one goal in the second half
and began to pull away as they totaled another six goals, leading
the way to a 12-5 victory and a semifinal matchup with No. 2
USC.
Two weeks ago the Trojans upended the Bruins at home, beating
them 8-6.
“We wanted to play them again because we were disappointed
at our execution the last time we played them,” head coach
Adam Krikorian said on meeting USC for the third time this
season.
This time, the Bruin defense was in control from start to
finish.
“Last time we lacked communication and we let down our
guard. Give credit to our field players because they shut
‘SC’s offense down and didn’t allow any shots
within the two meter mark,” goalie Jamie Hipp said.
The Bruins were able to hold the Trojans to only three goals the
entire game, half as many as USC managed in its Feb. 21 win. UCLA
was victorious by a 7-3 margin over their crosstown rivals, and now
lead the head-to-head match up with USC 2-1.
Having never won the UCSB tournament, the Bruins looked to add
another title behind their myriad accomplishments, as the familiar
Cardinal were the last opponent in the Bruins’ way.
Once again, the Bruins’ defense forced turnovers which led
to an efficient attack on the offensive side. The game was tied in
the first quarter, 1-1, but the Bruins were able to jump out to an
explosive second quarter and hold Stanford to only one goal as the
Bruins led by three at the end of the half, 4-1.
“We had a great practice these past couple of weeks and we
felt like we were in the game against Stanford both times. Because
of that we had a lot of confidence riding in this game,” said
Krikorian.
The Bruins began to slump in the beginning of the third quarter,
allowing Stanford to pull within one of UCLA, but with only three
seconds remaining on the clock, Robin Beauregard was able to
connect on a booming shot from nine meters out.
“I was in a bit of a slump for the past three weeks, but I
realized that once you put too much pressure on yourself you start
to miss, so I just relaxed,” said Beauregard.
The goal seemed to squash Stanford’s hope for a comeback.
The Bruins added two more goals in the fourth while holding
Stanford scoreless the rest of the way. UCLA defeated Stanford 7-3
and captured their first ever UC Santa Barbara Championship leaving
them 10-3 overall and 3-2 in the MPSF.
More importantly, it leaves them with a claim to the top ranking
in the country.