Squad continues to strive for title after defeating California, Pacific
Team discovers confidence for championships with tight play, strong talent
By Mayar Zokaei Daily Bruin Contributor
For the third-ranked UCLA women's water polo team, their game against top-ranked California last Friday marked a final opportunity to make waves before the upcoming MPSF Championships.
Using a two-goal outburst in the first quarter, fueled by senior Erin Golaboski and freshman Jessica Lopez, the Bruins upset Cal, 7-6, snapping the Bears' 15-game winning streak in the process.
"It wasn't a surprise. We've been playing well at practice," head coach Adam Krikorian said. "We have a talented team. It was just a matter of time before we started coming around and playing well together as a team."
Three players posted goals for UCLA, led by Lopez's four- goal onslaught. Bruin goalkeeper Jaime Hipp also turned in a notable performance, registering 11 saves.
Lopez was named MPSF Player of the Week for her efforts. Her 31 goals on the season rank third-best on the squad.
"What an honor," Lopez said upon learning of the award. She pointed out that she couldn't have performed so well without the support of the other Bruins.
"We played awesome team defense, and that defense created good offensive opportunities," Lopez said.
The Bruins beat California by a combined two points in two contests this season, including a 6-5 victory earlier in the season en route to capturing the UC San Diego Tournament title.
On Saturday the outcome remained the same but the story was much different as the Bruins trounced Pacific 16-2 in their final regular-season home game.
UCLA surged to a 7-0 halftime lead and was leading 11-1 after three quarters on the strength of three goals by Serela Kay and two apiece by Carly Herrera and Catharine von Schwarz.
The three seniors led 11 players who tallied goals, while Pacific's Molly Smith mustered the Tigers' only goals, one in each of the two last stanzas.
The Bruins (20-3, 8-1 MPSF) now control their own destiny as they head to San Jose to compete in the MPSF Tournament, which runs Friday through Sunday.
Despite finishing in a three-way tie with UCLA and Stanford, and being dealt its first conference loss of the season by the Bruins, Cal secured the No. 1 seed in the tournament via a tiebreaker, decided by a goal differential formula based on most goals scored and fewest goals allowed.
But expectations are high for the Bruins this year after they fell short in their quest for a fourth-straight national title in 1999.
"We're all pretty confident going into this weekend the way we've been playing the past couple weeks," Krikorian said.
The biggest factor this year should be the return of von Schwarz, who spent last year training with the U.S. National Team after leading UCLA to three national championships and a 97-3 mark during her first three seasons. That and the addition of young, talented freshmen like Lopez could be just what the Bruins need to return to their dominating ways.
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