INDIANAPOLIS – It wasn’t Spieker Aquatics Center, nor was it the west coast the Bruins have grown accustomed to competing in across their season – but the Eight Clap echoed loud and clear as the team geared up for their first round of NCAA play.

No. 2 seed UCLA women’s water polo (20-5, 5-1 MPSF) took down Loyola Marymount University (20-11, 7-0 West Coast Conference) 11-8 in Friday’s NCAA quarterfinal at the IU Natatorium in Indianapolis.

A characteristic of the rest of their games this season, the Bruins struggled to find their footing offensively across the first half of Friday’s match. With four minutes left in the first period, they had yet to register a goal – with multiple off-target shots and an attack that lacked the team’s normal rhythm.

“When you arrive at this part of the year, people have a tendency to treat it differently,” said coach Adam Wright. 

That deficit changed when redshirt sophomore utility Sienna Green finally broke through, flipping one in with the back of her hand to put UCLA on the board.

The second period proved different, as time trickled down on the shot clock and attackers struggled to find their target, with the Lions’ goal margin increasing to 4-2. 

Sophomore goalkeeper Lauren Steele held down the team’s defense across their scoring drought, with three saves compared to LMU’s Alyssa Barnuevo’s four. But the Bruins’ All-American wasn’t ready to call it quits yet.

​​Once again, the Bruins’ saving grace came from none other than junior center Bia Mantellato, who scored the team’s third goal to narrow the gap. Just minutes later, it was Mantellato again, notching the fourth goal with two minutes left in the second period.

“We just kept pushing and we kept emphasizing that we had to play our system and our defense,” Mantellato said. “We kept telling each other that we had each other’s backs and that was what gave us the win.”

With under a minute remaining, junior utility Anna Pearson delivered the equalizer, tying it 5-5 and injecting a sliver of hope into the Bruins’ sideline. 

The quarterfinal had quickly become a game of inches rather than miles. In one swift move after the score leveled at 6-6, Wright subbed in nearly four fresh players – looking for any sort of edge. 

But each time the Bruins seemed to seize momentum, attacker Ruth Arino Ruiz, who collected five of the Lions’ total eight goals, would strike again. UCLA refused to fold, answering back with a goal of its own each time.

For the first time during the match, a goal from junior attacker Emma Lineback, who scored almost half of the Bruins’ total points, pushed the team into their first lead of the entire match

“I think Adam says it a lot,” Lineback said. “Your approach on the goal is the only thing that matters. I try to step into it with confidence and if it goes in, it goes in. If it doesn’t, I tried my best and I’m gonna keep attacking.”

UCLA tacked on two more goals to extend its lead to 9-7, with just under a minute left in the third period.

A fourth-period resurgence was exactly what the Bruins needed to finally execute – and they delivered. With three consecutive goals, they held firm and protected their lead. Five focused minutes were all it took to extend the team’s NCAA journey and keep their opportunity at back-to-back championships alive.

“Like I told them at the half, ‘You can find a way and it can be painful or you can just focus on the things we are in control of,’” Wright said.

And although no more goals found the back of the net, the Bruins held their ground defensively for the remainder of the match, preserving their lead to advance to the Saturday semifinal at 11 a.m.

“We got to reset tonight and we know tomorrow we have to be a lot better,” Wright said.