W. polo: Women’s water polo racks up wins

The UCLA women’s water polo team was happy to see
California and Pacific come to town last weekend.

A week removed from a third place finish at the Gaucho
Invitational, which included wins over the No. 6 Bears and Tigers,
the No. 3 UCLA women’s water polo team (9-2, 3-0 MPSF) opened
up its home schedule in similar fashion.

The Bruins defeated Cal, 6-5, in overtime Saturday and crushed
Pacific, 15-3, Sunday to pick up two conference wins.

The Cal game provided some drama, with physical play on both
sides of the ball. The Bruins never led until the overtime session
and climbed back from a 3-1 fourth-quarter deficit.

“We weren’t expecting an easy game,” sophomore
driver Katherine Belden said. “They have a hard press and are
a quick team on the counter.”

Kristina Kunkel, coming off a team-high 10-goal performance at
the Gaucho tournament and MPSF Player of the Week honors, tied the
game at one with a power play goal with under a minute left in the
first quarter.

Cal scored in the second period and opened the fourth quarter
with a goal to take a 3-1 lead, but sophomore center defender
Lauren Heineck answered on the next possession, keeping the Bruins
in the game. With 3:35 to play, Heineck took advantage of a power
play to knot the score at 3-3 and send the game into overtime.

“We didn’t panic in the fourth quarter, and Heineck
had a great game,” Belden added.

In overtime, it was Cal’s turn to play catch up. Kunkel
provided the go-ahead goal, but the Bears responded to force a
second overtime. With the score 4-4, freshman driver Molly Cahill
again gave the Bruins a short-lived lead. With 1:27 to play,
Cal was able to tie the game once more, but Kacy Kunkel tallied the
eventual game-winner with a minute to play.

In the Pacific game, the Bruins went on an 11-2 run after taking
an early 4-1 lead to secure the victory. Cahill scored five times
to lead the team, while freshman driver Jenna Murphy and Heineck
added two goals apiece. Freshman drivers Kelley Koepp and Leah
Mazziliano, sophomore driver Paloma Slezak, Belden and Kristina
Kunkel all found the back of the net as well. Sophomore goalkeeper
Tahlia Kerr had 10 saves for the Bruins.

“It’s fun playing close games. We really enjoy the
good competition,” Belden said.