LA JOLLA – The final push was not enough.

The Bruins fought back from a two-goal deficit to take a lead in the third quarter – their first and only of the match –  but couldn’t keep it going in the fourth as their season came to an end. 

Losing in the NCAA tournament semifinal, No. 2 seed UCLA women’s water polo (21-5, 4-2 MPSF) fell 11-10 to No. 3 seed USC (24-3, 6-0) in a tight match Saturday evening at Canyonview Aquatics Center in La Jolla, California.

“I saw a connected, strong group that fought for every inch of the pool. We made mistakes – but we were right there,” said interim co-head coach Jason Falitz. “At the end, we had two or three chances there to put the ball down, and just like I told them, sometimes the ball doesn’t bounce your way. And unfortunately, it didn’t bounce our way today. But I couldn’t be more proud of this group.”

A four-goal performance from senior attacker Taylor Smith, seven drawn exclusions by senior utility Anna Pearson and 11 saves from junior goalkeeper Lauren Steele weren’t enough to send the Bruins to the final.

USC had a hot start to the game, jumping out to a 2-0 lead. Confusion among the UCLA defense about who an exclusion was called on led to Trojan attacker Emily Ausmus – who scored two goals and had one assist in the first quarter – burying USC’s first shot of the game. 

The Bruins countered with a two-goal performance of their own, with junior attacker Elektra Urbatsch scoring back-to-back goals to tie the game 3-3 before the Trojans went up 4-3 to end the first quarter.

“I was pretty fired up,” Urbatsch said. “I just saw the opening, and I took it. If I’m being honest, I don’t even remember the first goal I scored. But the second was on the counter, and I think that it was really important for us to push the counter and keep doing that and slowing down on offense.”

Steele had four saves in the first quarter, en route to her 11-save performance, for a .500 save percentage.

Pearson buried the first goal of the second quarter to bring the teams level, tucking home the Bruins’ first goal from center of the game. 

The crosstown rivals traded two goals apiece to start the second quarter – until USC etched out another two-goal lead to head into halftime up 7-5. Steele made three more saves in the second, including a quick passing shot at point-blank range from center.

The Trojans converted three of their four powerplays in the first half, while the Bruins only converted on two of their six. 

The Bruins headed into the second half down by two goals and without having led in the game. 

But they turned it around in the third.

UCLA took advantage of the USC fouls and turnovers in the third quarter.

Smith scored the first goal of the third quarter, firing one past Trojan goalkeeper Anna Reed on a penalty shot earned by Pearson. 

After an offensive foul was called on USC, Smith took the ball up the pool. She worked the counterattack with senior utility Lily Gess, who buried it to bring the Bruins within one goal once again. 

Following another USC offensive foul, Smith tied the game 8-8 before Pearson drew another 5-meter for Smith to bury – giving UCLA its first lead of the game, with just under 30 seconds left in the third quarter.

“We let ‘SC’s (USC) press dictate a little bit of the first half. And they (the Bruins) made a decision to come out in that quarter and meet them physically. And when they did that, ‘SC (USC)  started taking exclusions away from the ball, we were able to get the ball down on Pearson or Bia’s (senior center Bia Mantellato) hand a few times,” Falitz said. “At this point, we knew it was going to be a brawl out there – and they rose to the occasion. And again, they were right there. It just didn’t go our way at the end.”

Completing her hat trick, attacker Maggie Johnson brought the Trojans even again in the fourth quarter. They then took back the lead, going ahead 10-9 and then 11-9.

UCLA’s season started to slip away by the second.

Senior center Bia Mantellato caught the Bruins back up by one on a powerplay drawn by Pearson. 

With 44 seconds remaining, a USC shot went wide, and UCLA advanced up the pool. Mantellato fired off a shot from long-range but hit the crossbar, sending the ball straight down – just a touch from in.

“Bia gets a clean look, and it hits the underside of the crossbar and goes down. So it’s a game of inches,” Falitz said. “There’s no way the goalie touches that ball – if it’s on cage, it’s a tie game. So you couldn’t have gotten better looks for the plays that we set out to do.”

USC played keep away with the clock winding down on UCLA’s season. At  the sound  of the buzzer, it was all over.

“It really hurts. It’s going to hurt for a while,” Lineback said. “We didn’t get the outcome we wanted, but the journey is great – and it’s such a family, and that’s why it hurts so much. If we didn’t love each other, we didn’t care so much about each other, it wouldn’t hurt this much.”