UCLA
Stanford
UCLA Defeats No. 1 Stanford, 10-9
April 15, 2017 | Women's Water Polo
STANFORD, Calif. – Behind a hat trick by redshirt senior Kodi Hill, the No. 3 UCLA women's water polo team defeated the No. 1 Stanford Cardinal Saturday at Avery Aquatic Center, 10-9. With the win, the Bruins moved into sole possession of first place in the MPSF with an unblemished 5-0 record.
UCLA (19-1, 5-0) sent a message early, as Alexa Tielmann continued her recent goal-scoring barrage less than a minute into the contest. The redshirt senior, whose 30th goal of the season also went for her 11th in the last five games. Fellow redshirt seniors Alys Williams and Rachel Fattal followed to extend the Bruin lead to a game-high three goals just 2:51 into the contest. An exclusion on Hill opened a door for the Cardinal, as Jamie Neushul notched the first of the day for the home team. Less than a minute later, Shannon Cleary of Stanford (17-2, 4-1) followed to cut the Bruin lead to 3-2. The teams closed the frame by trading goals, as UCLA's Maddie Musselman netted her first and Neushul answered with her second of the afternoon to send the teams to the first break with the Bruins leading, 4-3.
Makenzie Fischer pulled the Cardinal even at 6:56 of the second frame. The teams traded three exclusions, but it was not until the final one that a team was able to capitalize, as Williams posted her second goal of the game for the Bruins to re-take the lead at 5-4. Dani Jackovich answered 24 seconds later to again force a tie. Following an exclusion on Katie Dudley of the Cardinal, the Bruins' Bronte Halligan scored the 21st goal of her freshman campaign to give UCLA a 6-5 lead heading into the half.
The third quarter belonged to Hill, who went nearly 19 minutes without scoring a goal. Answering a tying score by Stanford's Jordan Raney 28 seconds earlier, Hill found the back of the net to re-establish the Bruin lead at 7-6. She would need to answer again, however, as the Cardinal's Kat Klass gave the game its fourth tie at 7-7. Hill responded, this time with two goals over the last 1:15 of the quarter to give the Bruins a 9-7 advantage.
A Halligan exclusion gave Fischer the opportunity for her second goal of the game, as the teams entered the final six minutes with the Bruins leading, 9-8. Musselman sent home the decider at 5:33, as the freshman reached the 50-goal mark on the year. Klass trimmed the deficit to one at 10-9, but that ended scoring for the afternoon. Carlee Kapana posted eight saves on the day to key UCLA's defensive effort, which held the Cardinal scoreless over the game's final 3:36.
Now winners of nine straight, the Bruins will close the regular season with a visit from crosstown rival USC. The Trojans gave UCLA its sole loss thus far, in a 10-9 semifinal contest at the Barbara Kalbus Invitational. Play on Saturday, April 22 at Spieker Aquatics Center will begin at 1:00 p.m. and be broadcast by Pac-12 Networks.
No. 3 UCLA (4, 2, 3, 1 – 10)
Hill – 3; Musselman, Williams – 2; Fattal, Halligan, Tielmann – 1
No. 1 Stanford (3, 2, 2, 2 – 9)
Fischer, Klass, Neushul – 2; Cleary, Jackovich, Raney – 1
