MPSF Water Polo Results, Mar. 30-Apr. 2
Mar. 31
Ucla 12, HAWAII 4
HONOLULU – The No. 3 UCLA women's water polo team topped its Hawaii Invitational host Friday, with a 12-4 victory over the No. 8 Rainbow Wahine at the Duke Kahanamoku Aquatic Complex. Maddie Musselman led the way for the Bruins, as she posted a hat trick that included her team-leading 40th goal of the season. Alexa Tielmann got UCLA on the board 23 seconds into the contest to establish an early advantage. The redshirt senior added her second 2:04 later for her 23rd score of the season. Hawaii cut its deficit in half at 4:03 of the frame when Gabi Mantellato found the back of the net. Kodi Hill went on to close the quarter with her 22nd of the season to give UCLA a 3-1 edge heading to the second quarter. The second quarter belonged to the Bruin defense and Carlee Kapana in goal. The Rainbow Wahine was held scoreless over the second eight minutes, which opened the door for UCLA to pull away. Mackenzie Barr scored her 13th of the season before Musselman tallied two of her own, including her 40th, as the teams headed to the break with UCLA leading 6-1. Both teams were held scoreless for the first 3:33 of the third quarter, but Musselman broke the spell with her third of the contest. Bronte Halligan posted her 18th of the year before Hawaii's Femke Aan was able to snap a six-goal run by the Bruins. Nicole Reynolds added her seventh of the season and Alys Williams was able to beat the buzzer to send the Bruins to the fourth with a 10-2 advantage. It took nearly five minutes for either team to get on the board in the final quarter before Rachel Whitelegge gave the Bruins another quarter-opening goal. Chloe Barr and Hannah Thompson chipped away at the UCLA lead, but it was too little, too late for the Rainbow Wahine. Lizette Rozeboom beat the game's final buzzer to complete scoring and give the Bruins a 12-4 decision. The Bruins will play one more at the Duke Kahanamoku Aquatic Complex Saturday, when they square off with No. 12 UC Santa Barbara. Play will begin at 3:00 p.m., PT.
Mar. 30
UCLA 22, SDSU 5
HONOLULU – No. 3 UCLA women's water polo cruised to a 22-5 win over No. 12 San Diego State on the first day of play at the Hawaii Invitational Thursday. Alys Williams led the way with a hat trick, as 13 Bruins scored in all at the Duke Kahanamoku Aquatic Complex. The Bruins did not waste any time getting on the board, as Maddie Musselman scored the first of her two goals nine seconds into the contest. Less than a minute later, Williams netted her first. The redshirt senior added her second at 5:59 of the quarter, and Alex Angermund followed with her first to give the Bruins a 4-0 advantage less than three minutes into the game. Musselman added her second goal following an Ioli Benekou exclusion, and Kodi Hill and Mackenzie Barr tacked on two more to give the Bruins a 7-0 lead heading into the second frame. The seven first-quarter goals matched a season high for UCLA, previously set against UC San Diego (Jan. 22). Williams completed her hat trick at 7:36 of the second quarter before Caroline Israels netted the Aztecs' first goal of the game at 6:57 of the frame to cut their deficit to 8-1. UCLA's Bronte Halligan and SDSU's Alyssa Diacono alternated the game's next two goals ahead of a flurry of scores by Alexa Tielmann, Hill, Lizette Rozeboom and Aubrie Monahan that gave the Bruins a 13-2 halftime edge. Halligan and Tielmann each scored her second of the contest around the first by Lizzy Bilz of the Aztecs to push the UCLA advantage to 15-3 at 3:34 of the third quarter. Nicole Reynolds scored her first of two second-half scores for the Bruins before SDSU's Hannah Carrillo added one to send the game to its final quarter with the Bruins leading, 16-4. Louise Hazell (her first of the season), Rachel Whitelegge and Reynolds ran off three goals in under three minutes to open the game's final quarter. Whitelegge added another at 3:32 of the frame to push the lead to 20-4, and Carrillo answered with her second and the Aztecs' final of the night. Jenna Hurst and Angermund posted the game's final two goals to extend the Bruins' ultimate lead to a game-high 17 at 22-5. UCLA will return to action Friday (9:00 p.m., PT), when they face host and No. 8 Hawaii at the Duke Kahanamoku Aquatic Complex.