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No. 2 UCLA Women's Water Polo Downs No. 3 USC, 9-5
April 18, 2015 | Women's Water Polo
The Bruins (21-2, 5-1 MPSF) secured the No. 2 seed at next weekend's MPSF Tournament with their fourth consecutive victory over USC (21-3, 4-2 MPSF).
Rachel Fattal scored a team-leading four goals against USC, including each of the Bruins' final two goals in the fourth quarter. UCLA also received two goals each from Kodi Hill and Alys Williams and one from Mackenzie Barr.
Monica Vavic led USC with three goals in the MPSF contest.
UCLA led from the start and never trailed against the visiting Women of Troy. Hill found the back of the cage just 33 seconds into the opening quarter and Williams followed with a 6-on-5 goal at the 4:29 mark. USC's Vavic cut UCLA's margin in half with a goal with 1:31 to play in the first quarter.
The Bruins pushed their margin to 4-1 by halftime, taking advantage of goals from Fattal (5:47) and Williams (3:29) in the second frame.
USC reduced UCLA's cushion to 4-3 early in the third quarter. Hayley McKelvey scored with 6:54 to play in the period before Vavic netted her second goal of the afternoon just 26 seconds later.
Fattal responded for UCLA with a goal at the 2:26 mark, putting the Bruins ahead 5-3.
USC closed the quarter with a goal from Stephania Haralabidis at the five-second mark.
Leading 5-4 after three quarters, UCLA received goals early in the fourth quarter from Barr (7:06) and Hil (5:54) to claim a 7-4 cushion. USC's Vavic converted a five-meter penalty shot at the 2:14 mark, before Fattal found the back of the cage twice in the final two minutes (1:43, 0:30).
UCLA goalkeeper Sami Hill registered eight saves in her final home match for the Bruins. USC's Victoria Chamorro netted saves in the cage.
The Bruins honored eight senior members of their program prior to the match, as Saturday's game marked the final regular-season game of the year for UCLA.
As the No. 2-seed in next weekend's MPSF Tournament, UCLA will face No. 7-seed Cal State Bakersfield in a first-round contest on Friday, April 24. Game time at Arizona State's Mona Plummer Aquatic Center is 10:30 a.m. (PT).
No. 3 USC at No. 2 UCLA
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | F | |
| USC | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 5 |
| UCLA | 2 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 9 |
USC Goals: Monica Vavic 3, Stephania Haralabidis, Hayley McKelvey
USC Saves: Victoria Chamorro 8
UCLA Goals: Rachel Fattal 4, Kodi Hill 2, Alys Williams 2, Mackenzie Barr
UCLA Saves: Sami Hill 8
