PALO ALTO, Calif. - Despite their best efforts, the No. 20 UC San Diego women's water polo team lost, 9-2, to top-ranked UCLA at Stanford's Avery Aquatic Center in the first round of the 2015 National Collegiate Women's Water Polo Championship Friday. The Tritons will face UC Irvine in a consolation game at 1:45 p.m. Saturday.
UCSD was led by junior goalkeeper Courtney Miller who made 15 stops in the cage, while Jolene Guiliana scored both goals for the Tritons. With the loss, UCSD moves to 19-19 on the season while the Bruins improve to 25-2 overall.
“I thought we played well,” head coach Brad Kreutzkamp said. “We knew we had our work cut out for us today and had to play an absolute perfect game and have them make some mistakes, which they don't really do. Our players did really well. They never quit, and I was proud of their effort altogether.”
The Bruins got off to a quick start. After winning the sprint, they capitalized and scored on their first possession. UCSD held off UCLA momentarily and tied the game at 1-1 on a score from Guiliana. With Lauren Boyer drawing her 51st exclusion of the season, Guiliana found the top of the cage with the assist for Laurel Kistler. However, the Bruins scored three more times before the end of the first quarter.
Boyer continued to perform well defensively in the second quarter. The sophomore center grabbed a steal on the opening possession and then nearly tipped in a pass from Guiliana. But UCLA goalie Sami Hill swept it out just in time. Hill also blocked two close shots from Kayla Fedler in the second frame, which allowed the Bruins to keep the Tritons scoreless and take a 7-1 lead at the half.
“Playing with those kind of teams makes you play to the best of your ability because you can't give them anything less or they'll take advantage,” Kistler said. “I feel like when we're together on defense, it really gives us confidence to have good offense.”
Miller shined in the second half holding UCLA to just two goals. The Honolulu, Hawaii product finished the match with an impressive 15 stops.
“UCSD did a good job defensively,” UCLA head coach Brandon Brooks said. “Even though we had nine goals, they got a lot of saves and handled the ball with their goal really well.”
Guiliana scored the Tritons last goal of the game in the third quarter in a similar way to her first goal. Boyer drew the exclusion to give UCSD the 6-on-5 advantage. Then with a clean pass from Kistler, Guiliana found the back of the cage to cut the deficit to six.
The Bruins scored once more in the final frame to secure the 9-2 victory. UCLA will move on the face the winner of the California, while UCSD will face UC Irvine at 1:45 p.m.
“[UCSD is a] team that continues to push and work hard so we just continued to have to play or defense and keep our composure because they're fighters and they never give up,” UCLA Emily Donohoe said. “It's fun to play them, but it's always tricky so we have to come out ready to play.”
Box Score
UCLA 4 3 1 1 9
UCSD 1 0 1 0 2
Goals
UCLA: Kelsey O'Brien 2, Devin Grab 2, Emily Donohoe 2, Rachel Fattal 1, Alys Williams 1, Mackenzie Barr 1
UCSD: Jolene Guiliana 2
Saves
UCLA: Sami Hill 4
UCSD: Courtney Miller 15
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