With the regular season winding down, the UCLA women’s water polo team embarked on a road trip this weekend, looking to improve their record before the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Tournament at the end of the month. The No. 4 Bruins were highly successful, first snapping No. 7 Loyola Marymount’s 14-game win streak with an 8-4 win, then defeating No. 14 San Diego State, 7-5, just two days later.
Juniors center Grace Reynolds and attacker Priscilla Orozco led the Bruins against the Lions on Thursday with two goals apiece. Sophomore goalkeeper Caitlin Dement registered eight saves for UCLA, who never trailed during the game.
The Bruins’ dominance in the pool continued on Saturday, when they mounted an intense comeback against the Aztecs to pull out the win.
The Aztecs jumped out to an early 2-0 lead at the 3:13 mark, before the Bruins got on the board with a goal by junior defender Megan Burmeister with 2:15 left in the first quarter. Junior attacker Noel Umphrey tied up the game at 2-2 with a goal just a second before the first-quarter buzzer sounded.
The Bruins took the lead in the second quarter with junior attacker Kelsey McGinley’s goal at the 3:10 mark, only to see the Aztecs regain possession of the game with two more goals, taking a 4-3 lead into halftime.
The back-and-forth affair continued on in the third quarter, as the Bruins won the quarter with three goals, giving them a 6-5 lead heading into the fourth.
The Bruins’ highly touted defense stepped it up during the last quarter as they shut out the Aztecs, and junior defender Kelly Easterday added her second goal of the match with 1:14 left to effectively seal the win. In addition, Dement finished the day with seven stops in goal.
As the Bruins wrapped up their weekend with two significant victories, all eyes are now looking forward to their MPSF finale against crosstown rival USC on Saturday.
Compiled by Amy Le, Bruin Sports contributor.