Limp Bizkit may not be present at the tournament, but their
“keep rolling, rolling, rolling” attitude should be
adopted by UCLA.
The No. 1 women’s water polo team will ride the momentum
of a 14-game winning streak into the MPSF playoffs. Play opens at
Stanford today with the Bruins (19-3, 8-2) seeded third and set to
face the winner of the Hawaii-Pacific game at 7:15 p.m.
The winning streak includes an impressive 3-2 victory over the
U.S. National Team, providing an ample boost to an already
confident bunch.
The Bruins will rely heavily on the offense of junior center
forward Natalie Golda, who posted a team-leading 42 goals during
the regular season, including a record six-goal performance against
Loyola Marymount in the UC Santa Barbara Tournament. For her
efforts, Golda was named MPSF player of the week in March. Golda
led the Bruins in shooting percentage, finding the back of the net
on 53 percent of her shots.
During the Bruins’ impressive winning streak, they have
outscored opponents 146-33. Freshman driver Kelly Rulon was second
on the team with 21 goals and tied with senior captain and center
defender Robin Beauregard in assists with 28 apiece.
The Bruins have not allowed more than five goals past their
defense since their 8-6 loss to USC early in the season. Beauregard
led the team with 28 steals, followed by Rulon’s 25 and
senior driver Jessica Lopez’s 24.
Senior goalkeeper Jamie Hipp has kept offenses at bay with 148
saves and a 3.15 goals against average. The team recorded two
shutouts in blowout victories of 19-0 over UC Santa Cruz and 12-0
over UC Santa Barbara.
In the second round, the Bruins will likely face USC. Stanford
is heavily favored to make it to the championship game for a
potential rematch with UCLA. The tournament is important in the
seeding for the NCAA tournament and each of the top three programs
will be jockeying for the highest place.
Stanford leads the season series against the Bruins 2-1. The
lone victory came in the UC Santa Barbara tournament, where the
Bruins dispatched USC and Stanford by a combined score of 14-6 to
win the tournament and gain the top seed in the nation. UCLA has
had a stronghold on the top seed ever since.