It’s not about how you start.

But it’s about how you finish.

And after giving up 15 goals through the first three quarters, No. 2 UCLA women’s water polo (10-1, 1-0 MPSF) overcame No. 4 California (8-3, 0-1) 19-18 in a double-overtime thriller at Spieker Aquatics Complex in Berkeley on Saturday. Although 18 goals were the most the Bruins have given up in a game all season, the squad’s grit elicited optimism.

“It feels great,” said junior goalkeeper Joey Niz. “We’re all hyping each other up, and we all know we worked hard and pulled it out in the end. We train for this every day, so keeping that in the back of our minds helped a lot.”

UCLA’s opening conference performance began swiftly, with both sides scoring within the first 35 seconds of action and combining for 20 goals in the first half.

The Bruins flashed their offensive depth, with nine players finding the back of the net – over half of whom did so multiple times. Four goals apiece from seniors attacker Taylor Smith and center Bia Mantellato paced the Westwood squad.

“There’s no secret we’ve been playing from behind the last two weeks, and we have to figure that out,” said interim co-head coach Jason Falitz. “It was flipped early in the year when we were playing and getting out to early leads. … They had a decision to make if they wanted to keep going. They did that. They put themselves in a position to win, and that’s all we can ask for.

That depth has defined the 2026 season thus far, with five Bruins cracking double-digit goals this year – three of whom have recorded 20-plus.

However, with defense defining the UCLA brand, Friday’s victory did not come as cleanly as Falitz may have liked. The Golden Bears’ 18 goals were more than the Bruins gave up to the Trojans and Cardinal combined at last week’s Barbara Kalbus Invitational in Irvine.

Cal flaunted its own offensive prowess, rivaling UCLA’s scorers with nine of its own. Utility Maria Bogachenko led the game with five goals, and many of the Golden Bears’ opportunities came in the earlier stages of the game. Consequently, Cal shooters had the time to fake out UCLA’s defense and let good shots fly into the cage.

“We gave them way too much space to start the game,” Falitz said. “I don’t know why we weren’t able to establish our press. Credit to Cal – they play a very unique style where they’re always clearing their center out, and any player in the pool can drive in.”

The Golden Bears’ erratic playstyle forced Falitz into a critical substitution, bringing Niz in to start the fourth quarter in place of junior goalkeeper Lauren Steele, the usual starter and was, on Saturday.

Although Niz did not expect Falitz to call on the 1A cap going into the game, she said staying present in the moment and ready at all times helped her make an immediate impact off the bench.

“I always tell Joey (Niz) during the week, ‘You always have to be ready,’” Falitz said. “I 100% trust her. Quite honestly, I’ve told them, when we have meetings, that I truly believe we have two of the three or four best goalies in the country on the same team. Joey is, no doubt, a starting-level goalie.”

And an impact is exactly what Niz had, recording seven saves across just 14 minutes of gametime – one of which was the crucial stop on a shot from attacker Rosalie Hassett in the waning seconds of regulation to force overtime after the Bruins clawed back from a 15-14 fourth quarter deficit.

Falitz said that Steele did not have her best game but also that the 2024 ACWPC National Player of the Year also did not receive much help from those in front of her, as UCLA posted just two field blocks to Cal’s eight.

“There’s no way that two field blocks, or games with one field block or no field blocks, are going to get it done,” Falitz said. “The level of defense simply has to come up. We’re asking our goalies a lot. They’ve bailed us out, and now it’s time to step up in front of them.”

Both Niz and Smith said that the focus going forward is to tighten up the team’s defense, with the latter adding that she especially wants to improve her zone defense and ability to move in front of opposing shooters.

As the game entered its closing chapters – and its fiercest stretch – the Bruins reliedon their conditioning to maintain a high level of competitiveness through six periods.

Additionally, cleaning up the defense to stop the Golden Bears’ counterattacks prevented Cal from gaining momentum, as UCLA allowed just three goals after the third quarter and none in the second overtime.

And when Mantellato held the ball with just 1:46 left in the match, an assist to Smith delivered the attacker her fourth – and the game’s last – goal.

“Bia (Mantellato) and I played … in high school together,” Smith said. “Ever since our first game, we’ve had a really strong connection. … I just happened to be the one who took the shot at the end of the game. It could have been the other way around, and I have all the confidence in her to also make that shot.”