UCLA
Arizona State
No. 2 UCLA Coasts Past No. 4 ASU
April 16, 2016 | Women's Water Polo
LOS ANGELES, Calif. – Led by junior Alexa Tielmann's four goals, the second-ranked UCLA women's water polo team cruised to a 16-6 victory over fourth-ranked Arizona State on Friday afternoon. With the win, the Bruins improve to 21-3 on the season and 4-1 in MPSF play.
“I think that we just knew what we needed to do all game,” said Tielmann of UCLA's impressive performance. “Personally, I knew how the defenders played. I knew what to expect, so I knew to get my shots off quickly. I focused on that all week, and it worked well for me today. Overall, we knew what they were running and we focused on how to shut it down.”
UCLA senior India Forster got things started offensively, netting back-to-back goals to give the Bruins an early 2-0 lead. The Sun Devils replied with two of their own—one from ASU's leading scorer Maud Koopman and another from Daisy Carter—knotting the score at 2-2. Juniors Mackenzie Barr and Ashley Zwirner closed out the first quarter with a goal apiece to put UCLA ahead by two.
Forster converts the power play! Monahan with the assist. Bruins up 2-0! #GoBruins #UCLA pic.twitter.com/F6Iv7UEKJN
— UCLA Water Polo (@UCLAWaterPolo) April 15, 2016
It was neck and neck in the second quarter. ASU's Abbey Kerth put one past senior keeper Alex Musselman to cut the deficit to one. With 3:47 to go in the half, Tielmann netted her first of the game off an assist from junior Aubrie Monahan. Sophomore Devin Grab then lobbed one just over the fingertips of Sun Devil goalie Mia Rycraw to put the Bruins up by three. After ASU's Katie Sverchek put one on the board for the Sun Devils, Grab notched a buzzer beater to give UCLA a 7-4 lead at the half.
Devin Grab beats the shot clock! Bruins head into the half with a 7-4 lead. #GoBruins #ucla #beatASU pic.twitter.com/sYr95UrArU
— UCLA Water Polo (@UCLAWaterPolo) April 15, 2016
The Bruins came out firing on all cylinders in the third quarter, outscoring the Sun Devils 6-2. Tielmann, Kelsey O'Brien, Elissia Schilling, and Lizette Rozeboom found the back of the net for UCLA, with O'Brien and Rozeboom tallying two apiece. Ao Gao and Sverchek each registered a goal for the Sun Devils. Heading into the final quarter, the Bruins had a commanding 13-6 lead.
UCLA's defense held ASU scoreless in the fourth while Tielmann and Grab put away three more for the Bruins. Tielmann notched back-to-back goals off of dishes from Barr and Rozeboom, respectively. To close out scoring, Grab converted a power play to register a hat trick and put UCLA up by 10.
Grab converts the power play for the hat trick! Bruins up by 10! #GoBruins #ucla pic.twitter.com/r0EIU60lM4
— UCLA Water Polo (@UCLAWaterPolo) April 15, 2016
“Defense is always our number one goal,” said Schilling of limiting the Sun Devils to six goals. “Our transition comes from our defense and our offense comes from our defense. I think we really tightened things up in the second half. A lot of teams start to slow down and get tired in the second half, but Brandon [Brooks] emphasizes tempo and moving it quickly down the pool, so that works to our advantage.”
Overall, the Bruins assisted nine of their 16 goals and were five for seven on power plays. Defensively, the squad tallied seven steals and five field blocks. In the cage, Musselman stopped eight shots on goal and dished an assist to Grab.
“Scoring first definitely helps,” said Tielmann of what drives the team. “It gives us an extra boost and gives us confidence. On the other end, having Alex in the cage gives us a lot of confidence as well. When you know your goalie is going to make big saves when she needs to, it helps so much.”
Next week, the Bruins return to action when they host third-ranked Stanford to close out the regular season. The highly-anticipated conference clash takes place on Saturday, Apr. 23, at 11:30 am PDT. The game will be televised live on Pac-12 Networks.
No. 2 UCLA (4, 3, 6, 3 – 16)
Tielmann – 4; Grab – 3; Rozeboom, Forster, O'Brien – 2; Zwirner, Schilling, Barr – 1
No. 4 ASU (2, 2, 2, 0 – 6)
Sverchek – 2; Carter, Koopman, Gao, Kerth – 1
Saves: UCLA (Musselman – 8); ASU (Rycraw – 4)
