IRVINE, Calif. – The No. 21 San Diego State water polo team played two good quarters, the first and fourth, against the No. 3 UCLA Bruins on Friday, at the first day of the 2023 Barbara Kalbus Invitational, being outscored 7-3, but in the second and third periods, the Bruins put the game out of reach, totaling 12 goals to the Aztecs two, in a 19-5 decision at Anteater Aquatic Center.
San Diego State (3-6) got two goals from sophomore Klara Goldstein and one each from freshmen Claudia Valdes and Hannah Bell and senior Amanda Legaspi.
The game was the second meeting between the teams; UCLA took the season opener at the UCSB Winter Invite 21-5. With the loss, the Aztecs will face No. 15 UC Santa Barbara at 11:45 a.m. PT at Anteater Aquatic Center on Saturday; the first of two games the team will play on day two of the tournament.
After UCLA (11-1) built a 3-0 lead in the first 6:16 of the game, Valdes got the Aztecs on the board with her 11th goal of the campaign, the most of any freshman on the team, which trimmed the lead to 3-1.
UCLA bounced back and pushed its advantage back to three goals, with a strike at the 1:21 mark. Nineteen seconds later Goldstein picked up her first of the game to make the score 4-2 after eight minutes.
The second quarter saw an offensive blitz by the Bruins.
As in the first period, they put up the first three goals in the second in just over 1:45. Goldstein stopped the run with 5:29 to go before the intermission with her second tally of the day and sixth on the year. UCLA would score the next four goals to move in front 11-3 before, with just three seconds left in the period, Legaspi scored to send the game to halftime with SDSU trailing 11-4. Legaspi leads the team with 13 goals.
Coming out of the break, the Bruins blanked the Aztec offense in the third quarter while adding five more goals and taking a 16-4 advantage into the final eight minutes.
In the final quarter, with UCLA up 18-4, Bell hit the back of the cage for the fourth time in 2023, with a strike at the 1:46 mark to go to draw the Aztecs to 18-5, but the Bruins got the final goal of the game for the 19-5 win.
Goalie Tiaare Ahovelo (1-3) played the first half, making four saves and giving up 11 goals. Mandy Lagerlof got the call in the second half and stopped three UCLA shots, while allowing eight goals.
UCLA's offense was led by a pair of three-goal scorers, Hannah Palmer and Taylor Smith. Sydney Chiang went the distance in goal, surrendering five goals and making six saves.
No. 21 Aztec Water Polo Upended by No. 3 UCLA
