W. polo: Stanford ends water polo’s run at Gaucho Invitational
By Raffi Martinian
Feb. 29, 2004 9:00 p.m.
Day one of the Gaucho Invitational tournament went well for the
UCLA women’s water polo team.
Day two, however, did not.
Stanford freshman two-meter Christina Hewko scored with 10
seconds left in regulation, denying the No. 2 Bruins (7-2, 1-0
MPSF) an opportunity to repeat as champions in Santa Barbara.
In the critical semifinal loss to the Cardinal, the Bruins
opened up an early 2-0 lead, but ultimately fell 6-5 in a tight,
hard-fought contest.
“We jumped on them early and did a solid job defensively
in the first half, but we stopped playing aggressively in the
second half,” coach Adam Krikorian said.Â
“It was disappointing because we felt like we had the game
under control, but let it slip out of our hands.”
Sophomore driver Katherine Belden had two goals, while center
defender Lauren Heineck and sophomore center forward Kristina
Kunkel added one apiece in the loss.
Archrival No.1 USC won the tournament, defeating Stanford 8-5 in
the championship game. The Bruins settled for third after defeating
No. 4 Long Beach State 9-7. Belden and freshman driver Molly Cahill
had hat tricks to lead the Bruins.Â
On the first day, the Bruins went on an 11-1 scoring run to
defeat Pacific 14-3 to open tournament play. Belden and freshman
center forward Kacy Kunkel each had a hat trick.
The Kunkel sisters, Kacy and Kristina, helped the team’s
chemistry.
“The team gets along well, and we are all sisters in some
respect,” Krikorian said.Â
After Kacy scored three goals against Pacific, it was
Kristina’s turn when the Bruins faced Hawai’i in a 10-5
victory.
Kristina lived up to her coach’s praise as the
team’s most dominant player, scoring a record-tying six
goals. Current National team member and former Bruin player Natalie
Golda scored six goals a year ago in the same tournament.Â
“Although they got the goals in different ways, it was
like déjà vu. Both players scored six times in the second
round of the same tournament,” Krikorian said.
“It was a hell of a game.”
