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No. 3 UCLA women's water polo team beats top-ranked Stanford for UCI Invitational title

By Allison Collins

Feb. 26, 2012 11:03 p.m.

The UCLA women’s water polo team definitely has reason to celebrate this weekend.

Not only did the team survive a full weekend of games, as they played a total of four games over two days at the UC Irvine Invitational, but they accomplished the task of beating the top-ranked team in the country by defeating Stanford 5-4 in the championship game of the tournament.

The Bruins had their work cut out for them as they faced four teams all ranked in the top 20. They started off their weekend on Saturday by facing Cal State Northridge. The Bruins beat the Matadors 13-4 on Saturday and held them scoreless in the first half.

“This first game against Northridge was very solid,” coach Brandon Brooks said. “Any time you shut out a team in the first half proves you are on the right track.”

Senior utility KK Clark and freshman attacker Emily Donohoe were the leading scorers in this game as they had three goals apiece.

“This was a great game to start with,” said Donohoe. “We started off a little slow but were able to buckle down and play our game and get our footing in the tournament.”

UCLA did not just get their foot in the tournament but continued to charge full speed ahead as they went into the second game of the tournament against Michigan.
This was the third meeting between the Wolverines and the Bruins this season. The Bruins continued their scoring spree as they defeated the Wolverines 13-3.

Again UCLA played a great defensive game as they held Michigan to only one point per period except for the third in which Michigan was shut out.

Not only did the Bruins play well defensively in this game but they were also able to continue improving on their 6-on-5s for offense as they went four for nine on these types of plays.

Day two of the tournament brought stiffer competition as UCLA faced No. 2 USC and No. 1 Stanford in the semi-final and final rounds, respectively.

The team started off day two of the tournament against No. 2 USC.

The Bruins were down by a goal going into halftime at 4-5.

As the third period began it seemed as though the Trojans were gaining momentum as they held the Bruins scoreless and ended the period leading 7-4.

However the Bruins still had eight minutes left in the game and fought back, scoring three goals in the final period and ending the game by winning 8-7 in a nerve-wracking finish.

Junior utility Emily Greenwood led UCLA by scoring four goals in their victory over USC.

“This game was a great game to play and was a total team effort,” said Greenwood. “I couldn’t have played so well without my team. We all fought hard and were able to work together to set up plays and get the ball in the net.”

After beating their cross-town rivals, the Bruins faced the No. 1 Stanford Cardinal in the tournament championship.

The game was another nail biter as the two competitors were going point for point in true UCI tournament fashion. Three of the four championship games have been decided by just one goal.

With just about six minutes left in the game, the Bruins managed to pull away with the lead with a shot by Clark.

“This final game truly was a testament to how far our team has come already this season,” Brooks said. “We scored with about six minutes left and had to defensively play the rest of the game with Stanford throwing everything at us.

“More importantly, this game showed that we have a good team. The game showed that despite being a younger team with some inexperienced players, we are putting in the work and able to execute high level games,” he said.

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