The UCLA women’s water polo team had relatively few bumps on the road to their undefeated regular season, but the playoffs are always an entirely different journey. This weekend, the Bruins proved they know that.
In the championship game of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation tournament, the Bruins were given a prime opportunity to let it all slip away, but instead they showed the fans gathered at the San Diego State Aquaplex that this team indeed has the ability to reach a higher level.
After trailing USC 7-6 with less than four minutes to go in the final quarter, UCLA kicked it up a notch by firing in two goals to seal the 8-7 victory.
Sunday’s game had all the markings of an epic matchup. The third-seeded Women of Troy (19-7) had fought their way past No. 2 Stanford to assure this season’s third meeting against the top-ranked Bruins (30-0).
Even with the school’s classic rivalry and a conference championship on the line, USC needed no other motivation than to beat the team that came into their house earlier this year and ended the Trojans’ 42-game home winning streak. With plenty of pregame excitement on either side, the showdown in the pool did not disappoint.
UCLA came out with power, scoring three goals in each of the first two quarters to line up a 6-3 lead at halftime.
In the start of the second half, however, USC found the momentum, and it seemed for a moment they had discovered the Bruins’ weakness.
“We have to give them credit, because they came out in the third quarter with a lot of energy,” coach Adam Krikorian said.
The UCLA offense seemed to fall flat, and their signature tough defense yielded three goals. It was not until late in the fourth quarter that UCLA finally got back on its horse.
Junior Katie Rulon, the Bruins’ season leader in goals scored, found the back of the net for a critical game-tying goal. Then senior Gabrielle Domanic, reprising her role from a Stanford matchup earlier in the season, put in the go-ahead goal to send the Bruins home once again with an unblemished record.
“We showed a lot of heart and a lot of character, and that definitely gives us confidence going into (the NCAA Tournament),” Krikorian said.
Senior Courtney Mathewson finished her illustrious conference career with a hat trick to lead UCLA in scoring on the day, but, like most of the Bruins’ games, there was no one clear hero.
“I can’t really pinpoint one person (as MVP), and I think that’s what makes us so hard to beat,” Krikorian said.
After a well-earned bye, the Bruins started their run to the tournament championship with Friday’s 12-1 demolition of ninth-seeded San Jose State.
Rulon and junior Tanya Gandy each collected three goals to match the outstanding Bruin defense that allowed only a single Spartan goal.
In Saturday’s semifinal game, Hawai’i provided UCLA with an early scare, leading 3-0 deep into the second quarter, but the Bruins battled to tie the game by halftime and finished with an 8-6 victory. Mathewson again led the comeback by notching the first of her game-high four goals 14 minutes into the game to finally get the Bruins on the scoreboard.
With this win, UCLA receives the conference’s automatic bid to the national championships, even though there is no doubt the Bruins would have been invited despite a loss.
The undefeated UCLA squad now has two weeks to prepare for the NCAA Tournament in Palo Alto where it will surely be given the No. 1 seed.