UCLA
Michigan
No. 3 UCLA Earns Two More Wins on Sunday
January 20, 2019 | Women's Water Polo
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SANTA BARBARA, Calif. -- No. 3 UCLA improved to 5-0 on the year with a pair of victories at the UC Santa Barbara Winter Invitational on Sunday, Jan. 20. The Bruins opened with a 9-7 win over No. 9 Michigan in the morning and then followed that up with a 6-4 victory over No. 17 UC Santa Barbara in the afternoon at UCSB's Campus Pool.
The Bruins trailed 2-1 after one period with only a power play goal from senior Rachel Whitelegge. But UCLA won the second period, 4-2, to take a 5-4 lead into the break. Three of the second period goals were by freshmen as Ava Johnson scored from two meters and Ayala scoring from the front court and on a power play. Rozeboom added the other goal on a 6-on-5 opportunity. The Bruin defense stepped up in the third quarter, pitching a shutout, while the offense produced three scores to extend the lead to 8-4. In the third, UCLA received power play scores from Ayala and junior Bronte Halligan and a counter attack strike from sophomore Roxy Wheaton. Michigan won the fourth quarter, 3-1, but lost the game, 9-7. The Wolverines closed the gap to 8-7 with 2:59 remaining. But Rozeboom found the back of the net for the second time in the game from the front court (1:29) to secure the win.
No. 9 Michigan vs. No. 3 UCLA (UCSB Winter Invitational Game 4)
| SCOREBOARD | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | FINAL |
| No. 9 Michigan | 2 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 7 |
| No. 3 UCLA | 1 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 9 |
6x5 - UCLA - 5/9 - MICH - 1/6
Penalties - UCLA - 0/0 - MICH - 0/0
MICH Goals: Maddy Steere 3, Kathy Rogers 1, Kim Johnson 1, Sofie Pontré 1, Julia Sellers 1
MICH Saves: Heidi Ritner 4
UCLA Goals: Val Ayala 3, Lizette Rozeboom 2, Bronte Halligan 1, Rachel Whitelegge 1, Ava Johnson 1, Roxy Wheaton 1
UCLA Saves: Carlee Kapana 8
In the win over the Gauchos (4-1), the Bruins were led by two scores each from juniors Bronte Halligan and Emily Skelly. Senior Carlee Kapana started in goal for the Bruins and played the first half, tallying five saves while surrendering just one goal. Sophomore Jahmea Bent came on in relief in the second half and registered one stop while allowing three goals.
The Bruins led 2-0 after one period with a goal at two meters from Halligan and a score from the front court by sophomore Roxy Wheaton. The Bruins were held scoreless in the second period, but allowed just one score from set to take a 2-1 lead into the break. UCLA got just one power play goal from freshman Bella Wentzel in the third period to take a 3-3 tie into the fourth. UCLA exploded out of the gate in the final period with three unanswered goals to build a 6-3 lead. Skelly started the run with a power play goal (6:41) then Halligan found the back of the net on a counter (5:59) and Skelly followed with another exclusion goal (4:13). The Bruins ceded every possession after that and allowed UCSB only one goal on a power play (0:21) in the final four minutes to hold on for a 6-4 victory.
The Bruins return to action next weekend when they travel to Berkeley, Calif. to compete in the Cal Cup. UCLA will face UC Davis on Saturday, Jan. 26 at 8:30 a.m. PT and then play Stanford and California in exhibition games before closing out the tournament against Fresno State on Sunday, Jan. 27 at 1:00 p.m. PT.
No. 3 UCLA at No. 17 UC Santa Barbara (UCSB Winter Invitational Game 5)
| SCOREBOARD | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | FINAL |
| No. 3 UCLA | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 6 |
| No. 17 UCSB | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
6x5 - UCLA - 3/5 - UCSB - 2/7
Penalties - UCLA - 0/0 - UCSB - 0/0
UCLA Goals: Emily Skelly 2, Bronte Halligan 2, Bella Wentzel 1, Roxy Wheaton 1
UCLA Saves: Carlee Kapana 5, Jahmea Bent 1
UCSB Goals: Sarah Snyder 2, Kelly Murphy 1, Amanda Legaspi 1
UCSB Saves: Kenzi Snyder 6
