Women’s water polo loses to Cardinal

Unfortunately for the Bruins, they did not share the same
overtime success that the Anaheim Mighty Ducks had in their long
five-overtime victory.

The No. 1 UCLA women’s water polo team (21-4) fell 3-2 in
the championship game of the MPSF tournament to No. 3 Stanford in
Palo Alto on Sunday. The game was decided in the fifth sudden death
overtime, when the Cardinal scored with 2:03 left.

“I didn’t think the game was going to end,”
coach Adam Krikorian said. “It was the longest game I have
ever been a part of.”

The game was another in a long list of one-goal, defensive games
involving the top two teams. The Cardinal took a 1-0 lead into
halftime, scoring early in the first period and limiting the
Bruins’ scoring chances.

Freshman driver Kelly Rulon scored in the third period to tie
the game, only to see Stanford pull ahead in the fourth quarter.
The seesaw battle ended when freshman center defender Lauren
Heineck scored with 3:04 remaining in the game to send the contest
into overtime.

Neither team scored in the two three-minute overtime sessions,
sending the contest into sudden death overtime. Goalkeeper Jaime
Hipp was impressive, making 27 saves on 30 shots. The Bruins were
only successful twice in 42 shots, a paltry 5 percent scoring
efficiency.

“We had a slow first quarter, before we started taking a
lot of shots,” junior Natalie Golda said.

With the victory, Stanford is awarded the automatic bid to the
NCAA tournament in San Diego during May 10-11.

The Bruins are favored to earn an at large bid to the tournament
with their victory against No. 2 USC in the semifinals, 7-6 in
sudden death overtime on Saturday. Senior driver Jessica Lopez
scored the game-winning goal with 2:23 left in the first sudden
death session, converting on a 6-on-5 powerplay opportunity and
sending the Bruins to the championship game against the
Cardinal.

“There was a ton of emotion when we scored,” Golda
said. “It was super important to win, not only because of the
crosstown rivalry, but because we knew that whoever lost would be
the team out of the NCAA tournament.”

The Bruins seemingly played catch up all day, as Golda scored on
a penalty shot to tie the game at 4 in the third period, only to
see the Trojans take the lead. With 2:11 left in the game, senior
center forward Ashley Stachowski knotted the game at 5 to force the
extra period. USC scored first in the opening overtime period, but
Golda found the back of the net with 1:46 remaining in the second
overtime sending the game into sudden death. 

“We responded to every lead they got”, said
Krikorian.

UCLA avoided an early loss in the first sudden death as the
Trojans were unable to capitalize on a breakaway. The next Bruin
possession proved fruitful as Lopez scored the game winning goal.
Hipp again was solid, registering 4 saves in overtime and 13
overall. Golda led the offense with three goals. The Bruins won the
season series, 3-1 against their archrivals and may have knocked
the Trojans out of the NCAA tournament.

The key to the game was on special teams, as the Bruins
converted on four of five powerplay opportunities, while limiting
the Trojans to one for eight.

“Nobody that we know of has been a part of two sudden
death matches back to back,” Krikorian said. “For it to
happen is incredible.”