CSU Bakersfield notched three goals early on in Friday’s matchup and the Roadrunners initially seemed to pose a legitimate threat to No. 2-seeded UCLA women’s water polo.
That quickly faded.
After the second quarter, CSU Bakersfield would not score another point. The Bruins dictated the rest of their 10-3 victory at the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Tournament at the Hillman Aquatic Center in Bakersfield, California. The No. 2 Bruins (22-3, 5-1 MPSF) took on tournament host, No. 25 CSU Bakersfield (13-19, 0-6 MPSF) for the first round of this weekend.
The Bruins dictated the rest of their 10-3 victory, channeling their momentum from last Saturday’s exciting 9-8 win over Stanford.
Earlier on in the regular season, UCLA beat CSU Bakersfield on March 20th with a decisive 6-1 victory. The Bruins have had a 6-0 all-time record against the Roadrunners.
The Roadrunners scored the first point of the match early in the first quarter, with junior attacker Ashley Zwirner answering for the Bruins not long after. Sophomore attacker Devin Grab, freshman attacker Lizette Rozeboom and junior utility Mackenzie Barr followed up with goals of their own before the end of the first half.
“I think we definitely did not start the game the way we wanted to,” said senior goalkeeper Alex Musselman. “Obviously you’re gonna go into a game and not always play your best, but you can always control how much effort you put in. So I think we held each other accountable and did a good job of improving how we played the rest of the game.”
Finding their stride in the second half, UCLA pulled into a comfortable lead that would only grow until the buzzer went off. Grab, redshirt junior center Alexa Tielmann and junior attacker Kelsey O’Brien netted one apiece during the third quarter, wearing down the Roadrunner defense.
Zwirner, freshman attacker Louise Hazell and Rozeboom put up three more points for UCLA in the fourth quarter. Veteran goalkeeper Musselman defended the cage for the Bruins with a total of five saves against the CSUB offense.
“The Roadrunners definitely came in hot. They’re not a team to just give up easily,” Musselman said. “I think it took a little bit of getting used to, but during the second half, we dominated the defense … so we ended up being fine.”
Many other Bruins saw playing time today aside from the usual group of starters, including younger players who also contributed to the team’s win.
“It’s not like our momentum dropped or anything,” Zwirner said. “It was a good steady attack, whatever lineup was in. I thought it was really nice that everyone was able to play, score and do well.”
Two of UCLA’s points came from freshman attacker Lizette Rozeboom. Fellow freshmen Rachel Whitelegge and Louise Hazell, and sophomores Nicole Reynolds and Alexis Angermund also established their presence against CSUB.
“I think that it’s great when we can get everyone in,” Tielmann said. “That means that we give everyone a chance to shine, so it’s always really nice to see the younger girls get in and play.”
The Bruins will play their next game tomorrow at 12:45 p.m. against Stanford, who beat San Jose State 10-6 today to move onto the semifinals.