Quiet sophomore strikes heavy blow
By Bryan Chu
May 14, 2006 9:00 p.m.
DAVIS “”mdash; Her meekness fooled everyone, her play passive at
best and her attitude timid.
Heck, all season long she wore the same face ““ a
smile.
USC will never forget it.
With one second left on the clock, sophomore Courtney Mathewson
put a dagger through the hearts of the Trojans, nailing the
game-winning shot from six meters out to give the Bruins a one-goal
victory.
“That shot will go down in UCLA water polo history
forever,” UCLA coach Adam Krikorian said.
“I swear, I swear. She’s a hell of a player.
She’s a quiet one ““ she gets timid at times ““ but
at the end of the season she played aggressive.”
To think the sophomore driver would be the hero of a game of
this magnitude would be hard to believe. The game-winning goal was
Mathewson’s 11th of the season. It was her first goal of the
NCAA Tournament, but boy did it sting.
Though Krikorian may not think so, the sophomore driver had to
admit she’s come a long way.
Relegated to the bench for most of the season last year,
Mathewson saw her role as a cheerleader.
This season, Krikorian instilled faith that his reticent driver
would do something special ““ that she would do something
big.
“Halfway through the season, I realized I was going to be
put in these positions where I would have to step up and that I
didn’t have a choice,” Mathewson said. “My
teammates really helped my confidence grow.
“Whether we placed USC or Cal State Northridge, if I
didn’t shoot when I should’ve, Kelly (Rulon)
would’ve been all over me. I know it’s OK if I miss. At
least I took the shot that I was supposed to.”
It may have been fortuitous that Mathewson was even put in that
position.
Krikorian called a time-out with 16 seconds remaining. He drew
up a trick play ““ “The Play.”
Rulon was supposed to take the shot. She remained patient,
trying to draw a foul. The clock ticked down to 10 seconds, and
Rulon made a quick move.
An ejection was called on a USC defender, and with four seconds
on the clock Mathewson cocked her arm and fired a shot from the
left wing and into the right corner of the Trojan goal.
The USC defense never got a chance to get settled.
“Courtney is one of those people that can’t see
their talent,” senior utility Thalia Munro said. “You
can call it humble to a certain point, but to a point of stupidity.
It’s true. I put her up to shoot against anyone any day, but
I don’t know if she’ll put herself up there.”
As the Bruins celebrated in the middle of the Schaal Aquatics
Center pool at UC Davis, Rulon was thinking one thing.
“I’m so glad Courtney made the shot,” she
said. “I’ve given her so much crap all season about
being scared to shoot. I don’t know if she knew how much time
was left. When she made it I was so thankful and stoked. We won
right there and then.”
It brought a smile to Rulon’s face just thinking about
it.
