UCLA
UC San Diego (1st Round)
UCLA Women's Water Polo Advances to NCAA Tourney Semifinals
May 09, 2015 | Women's Water Polo
UCLA (25-2) has advanced to a semifinal match against No. 4-ranked California (20-7), to be played Saturday at 3:30 p.m. (PT).
Against UC San Diego (19-19) on Friday, the Bruins received two goals each from Emily Donohoe, Devin Grab and Kelsey O'Brien. In addition, Mackenzie Barr, Rachel Fattal and Alys Williams each added one goal for UCLA.
"I liked the intensity that we came out with," UCLA head coach Brandon Brooks said. “It's always nice to score on the first play of the game. I thought we did a great job on defense. UCSD did a good job defensively, as well, and they had a lot of saves. We are very happy to move on.”
The Bruins never trailed in the quarterfinal match, securing a 4-1 lead after the first quarter and extending their margin to 7-1 by halftime. UCLA limited UC San Diego to just one goal in each half.
Williams scored just 28 seconds into the game, putting UCLA ahead, 1-0. UC San Diego countered with a goal from Jolene Guiliana with 4:35 to play in the opening quarter. With the game tied, 1-1, O'Brien found the back of the cage with a strike at the 3:37 mark before the Bruins also received goals from Barr (2:11) and Fattal (0:58).
UCLA outscored UC San Diego by a 3-0 margin in the second period. The Bruins held strong on each of UC San Diego's two 6-on-5 opportunities in the first half, entering halftime with a 7-1 lead.
Grab scored her first goal of the game with 3:32 to play in the third quarter, extending UCLA's lead to 8-1.
Guiliana scored the Tritons' second goal of the day with 2:43 remaining in the third period, reducing the Bruins' margin to 8-2. Grab scored her second goal of the afternoon with 4:13 to play in regulation.
Senior goalkeeper Sami Hill limited the Tritons to two goals through three quarters and was credited with four saves. Junior goalkeeper Alex Musselman made two saves in the final quarter.
UC San Diego goalkeeper Courtney Miller registered 14 saves in four quarters.
UCLA has earned its fifth consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament's semifinals. The Bruins have won each of their previous two meetings against California this season.
"As far as adjustments, I don't think we really want to make too many adjustments," said Brooks, looking ahead to Saturday's semifinal. "You don't want to try and do too much. I expect that we will be in some tough situations, but we have found some areas where we can play a little bit better defensively. We have to continue to do what we have done well, and we have to continue to be a little more consistent."
Saturday's second semifinal match will feature No. 2-ranked Stanford versus No. 3-ranked USC. That game will begin at approximately 5:15 pm (PT).
UC San Diego vs. UCLA (NCAA Tournament)
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | F | |
| UC San Diego | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| UCLA | 4 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 9 |
UC San Diego Goals: Jolene Guiliana 2
UC San Diego Saves: Courtney Miller 14
UCLA Goals: Emily Donohoe 2, Devin Grab 2, Kelsey O'Brien 2, Mackenzie Barr, Rachel Fattal, Alys Williams
UCLA Saves: Sami Hill 4, Alex Musselman 2
