#3 UCLA Women’s Water Polo Clashes with #1 Stanford Cardinal

Having easily disposed of #4 Arizona State last Saturday by a score of 13-5, the #3 UCLA Women’s Water Polo team heads north to face #1 Stanford, who took the top spot back in this week’s poll after defeating Southern Cal at home last weekend, 12-8.

Against the Sun Devils, six different Bruins scored while four of the six scored multiple goals. UCLA was led by Alexa Tielman, who recorded 4 goals, and Maddie Musselman, who added a hat trick. Rachel Fattal and Alys Williams each score two goals while Bronte Halligan and Lizette Rozeboom each scored late goals.

Williams got the Bruins on the scoreboard first and Fattal added her first about two and a half minutes later. Claudia Abad cut the Bruins’ lead to just one with a minute and eighteen seconds left in the first and UCLA led 2-1 after the first quarter.

The second quarter was UCLA’s big one as the Bruins added five goals in the period. Williams scored her second goal of the game just 14 seconds into the quarter while Abad scored her second for ASU 29 seconds later. Just 31 seconds after that, Musselman scored the first of her three goals and Fattal made it 5-2 with 6:23 left in the half. Bente Rogge got ASU on the board one more time before the half before Tielman added two more goals for the Bruins, including the eventual game winner, to give UCLA a 7-2 halftime lead.

In the third quarter, Tielman, Musselman and Halligan each scored while Carlee Kapana blanked ASU, giving UCLA a 10-3 lead.

The teams exchanged goals in the fourth with Rozeboom scoring first. She was followed by Alkistis Benekou scoring for the Sun Devils. Tielman’s fourth goal of the game gave UCLA a 12-4 lead which was answered with a goal by Maud Koopman of ASU. Musselman completed her hat trick with just under two minutes left to cap the scoring.

Meanwhile, the then-#2 Stanford Cardinal knocked off last week’s #1 team Southern California, ending the Trojans 52-game winning streak. It was the Trojans’ first loss since Stanford beat them on May 9, 2015 in an NCAA Semifinal game. As a result, the Cardinal has re-taken the top spot in the latest CWPA Coaches poll.

If UCLA can defeat the Cardinal on the road today, the Bruins should be able to grab the top spot in next week’s poll, but it will certainly be a tough battle.

#3 UCLA Bruins (18-1, 4-0)

Opponent: #1 Stanford Cardinal (17-1, 4-0)

When: Saturday, April 15, 2017, 3:00 pm PT

Where: Avery Aquatic Center, Stanford, CA

TV, Live Stream, Live Stats: None

This is your UCLA Women’s Water Polo vs. Stanford open thread.


Go Bruins!!!