It took a cross-country trek, a last-second game-winner and a defensive stand for the ages, but the UCLA women’s water polo team came away with its fifth consecutive national championship. With a 5-4 victory over rival No. 1 seed USC on Sunday in the title game, the Bruins capped a memorable weekend run in College Park, Md.
Despite not scoring in the second half, the Bruins (25-6) held on for the win and gave coach Adam Krikorian a seventh NCAA championship in his final game as the head of the UCLA women’s program. Krikorian, who will be taking over the USA women’s water polo team this month, called the victory “the most improbable of all the national championships.”
The Bruins faced a daunting task, having to piece together back-to-back wins against the top two teams in the country. The championship game against USC was preceded by an emotionally and physically exhausting duel with No. 2 seed Stanford.
“The semifinal (against Stanford) was one of the hardest games in our history,” senior attacker Tanya Gandy said. “We were on such a high after winning that game, we had to rely mostly on pride and heart to go against USC.”
Despite the draining semifinal, UCLA jumped on the Trojans early, getting a quick pair of goals from Gandy, including one on a penalty shot, to build a 2-0 lead that they would never relinquish. Gandy later added another tally on a penalty shot to help the Bruins go up 5-3 at halftime before a defensive struggle took over the second half.
The Trojans scored in the final moments of the third quarter to cut the deficit to one, but the Bruins’ conservative offense and sturdy defense held off the USC attack. UCLA senior goalkeeper Brittany Fullen made a series of saves in the final period to secure the title.
“Defense is a priority every time we go out and play,” Krikorian said. “We turned in our best defensive effort of the year at the right time. I couldn’t be more proud.”
The final victory followed a thriller against Stanford, a team that had beaten UCLA in the three prior meetings this season. Much like the last two matchups, both decided by a single goal, the game was a back-and-forth affair until UCLA sophomore defender Megan Burmeister netted the game-winner in the final seconds. With one Cardinal out on an exclusion penalty, Burmeister got free in front of the Stanford net and buried a shot.
Krikorian, whose ill-fated timeout with Stanford in possession gave the Cardinal a penalty shot with 27 seconds left, which they used to tie the game at 11, gave credit to his players for rallying despite the miscue.
“I was glad the team stepped up,” Krikorian said. “It was one of the gutsiest wins I’ve been fortunate enough to be a part of.”
For the seniors Gandy, attacker Anne Belden, attacker Katie Rulon and Fullen, the title represented a fitting end to a near-perfect four years at UCLA, a run that saw the four seniors win four national championships.
“This year has probably been the sweetest,” Gandy said. “No one thought we were a contender; everyone thought we would roll over and get the championship taken from us. Our career has been such a great experience; not only the rings, but all the blood, sweat and tears that we’ve put into everything.”
After going a combined 0-5 against Stanford and USC throughout the season, something had to change for UCLA in its final weekend push. In the end, a little extra confidence made the difference.
“We made so much progress since we lost to Stanford by five goals and lost to Hawai’i, and I know that all the girls saw that,” Krikorian said. “They had to buy in and believe and, man, we certainly believed.”