UCLA
UC Santa Barbara
No. 3 UCLA Wins Two More at UCSB Invite
January 21, 2018 | Women's Water Polo
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. โ The No. 3 UCLA women's water polo team completed its time at the UCSB Winter Invitational Sunday with its third and fourth wins of the trip, defeating No. 19 UC Santa Barbara and No. 16 UC San Diego at the UCSB Recreation Center.
UCLA used five fourth-quarter goals to distance themselves from host UCSB en route to a 10-6 win. In their afternoon game, the Bruins scored three straight second-half goals to break a tie and would not let the Tritons back into a game that it would ultimately capture by a 9-3 score.
It was a tale of two quarters in the first half of the Bruins' morning contest. Haley Evans got UCLA on the board early with her second goal of the early season (7:16). Grace Reego's fourth of the year established a multi-goal advantage (5:02), before Emily Skelly added the Bruins' third scoring strike of the opening eight minutes (3:19).
The Gauchos would not go away, though, as Kate Pipkin scored UCSB's first goal nearly midway through the second (4:36). Soon after, she struck again on a penalty shot to cut their deficit to one. Then with under two minutes to go, Sarah Kreiser netted the equalizer to send the game to the break all tied up at 3-3 (1:46).
Maddie Musselman broke the tie 20 seconds into the second half. That Bruin lead was short-lived, as Pipkin completed a hat trick at 5:49 of the third to knot the game at 4-4. UCLA was able to get back on top heading into the fourth, though, thanks to a score from Lizette Rozeboom with 1:14 to go.
A flurry of scores in the fourth started when Bronte Halligan connected on a penalty shot with 7:44 to go in the game. Kreiser soon posted her second to pull the Gauchos back within two (7:26). The Bruins' Kelsey Blacker posted the game's third goal in the first 1:18 of the quarter to make it 7-5, before Musselman added her second to stretch the lead to three (5:14). Rozeboom and Lexi Liebowitz would tack on two more for the Bruins before Amelia Meckelborg completed the scoring with the Gauchos' final strike.
The Bruins found themselves down 1-0 midway through their afternoon game's first quarter, as Grace Pevehouse gave UC San Diego an early lead. Skelly answered 12 seconds later for the Bruins to knot the score at 1-1. With 2:01 left in the first, Pevehouse scored again to help the Tritons retake the lead.
With 6:09 to go in the second, Grace Reego pulled the Bruins even. Brooke Maxson (4:39), Halligan (2:12) and Rozeboom (0:40) scored three more to give UCLA a lead that would prove insurmountable.
Kayla Fedler scored one minute into the third quarter to trim the Bruin lead to 5-3, but UCLA quickly shifted the slight momentum change back in its own direction as Alexis Angermund (5:51), Liebowitz (4:27) and Rachel Whitelegge (1:07) helped build a five-goal lead.
Rozeboom added one more with 3:44 to go in the contest to give the Bruins their final 9-3 lead.
Next up for the Bruins is a trip to Ann Arbor, Mich. for the Michigan Invitational, where they will again play four games in two days. UCLA will take on No. 23 Marist (9:00 a.m., PT) and No. 8 Michigan (2:15 p.m.) Saturday, before finishing up with No. 20 Wagner (7:15 a.m.) and No. 9 Pacific (12:15 p.m.) Sunday.
No. 3 UCLA 10, No. 19 UC Santa Barbara 6
No. 3 UCLA (3, 0, 2, 5 โ 10)
GOALS: Musselman, Rozeboom โ 2; Blacker, Evans, Halligan, Liebowitz, Reego, Skelly โ 1
No. 19 UC Santa Barbara (0, 3, 1, 2 โ 6)
GOALS: Pipkin โ 3; Kreiser โ 2; Meckelborg โ 1
No. 3 UCLA 9, No. 16 UC San Diego 3
No. 3 UCLA (1, 4, 3, 1 โ 9)
GOALS: Rozeboom โ 2, Angermund, Halligan, Liebowitz, Maxson, Reego, Skelly, Whitelegge โ 1
No. 16 UC San Diego (2, 0, 1, 0 โ 3)
GOALS: Pevehouse โ 2; Fedler โ 1
