The UCLA women’s water polo team, ranked second in the nation, secured a 17-10 victory over No. 13 Fresno State on Friday at the Anteater Aquatics Complex in Irvine, California. With this win, UCLA advanced to the semifinal round of the Barbara Kalbus Invitational.
Anna Pearson led the Bruins with five goals, marking a season high for her. Taylor Smith contributed four goals to the team’s total. Dania Innis and Bia Mantellato each added two goals. For Fresno State, Caitlyn Mossman and Charley Stephens both scored twice.
UCLA goalkeeper Lauren Steele made six saves during her three quarters in goal before being replaced by Joey Niz, who recorded three saves in the fourth quarter. Katelyn Mobley had two saves for Fresno State.
The first quarter saw limited offensive action from both teams, ending with just four combined goals. Pearson and Emma Lineback scored on power plays for UCLA in response to early goals from Fresno State.
In the second quarter, both teams increased their scoring pace, each netting four goals within just over five minutes. Five different Bruins found the back of the net during this period. Mantellato gave UCLA its first lead at 7-6 with a penalty shot late in the half.
UCLA dominated the third quarter by scoring six out of seven goals and going on a run of five consecutive scores over a span of just more than six minutes. Pearson and Smith were key contributors during this stretch.
Innis and Jenna Human added to UCLA’s tally in the fourth quarter, while Pearson scored her fifth goal of the game. The final score was 17-10 in favor of UCLA.
With this result, UCLA improved its season record to 8-0 and will face No. 3 USC next Saturday at 4:30 p.m. PT as part of tournament play.
Stanford (No. 1) and California (No. 4) also won their respective matches earlier in the tournament.
Both teams converted one penalty shot each during the match; UCLA succeeded on six out of ten power-play opportunities while Fresno State managed two out of twelve.
