Story Courtesy of UCLA Athletic Media Relations

LOS ANGELES---The No. 1 UCLA women's water polo team (17-1, 3-0 MPSF) posted a 17-3 victory over CSU Bakersfield (12-11, 0-2) on Saturday afternoon at Spieker Aquatics Center.

CSU Bakersfield struck first when Bridgette Souza (R-Sr., La Jolla, Calif., Sonoma State) scored a power play goal after Bruin goalie Sami Hill was excluded. Emily Donohoe tied it at 1-1 with a goal in the top right corner. Devin Grab gave the Bruins a 2-1 lead with a goal high corner near side (:17) to end the scoring in the first period.

“We played a great first quarter," said CSUB head coach Jason Gall.

Kodi Hill opened the scoring in the second with a low skip shot to extend the lead to 3-1. Alys Williams made it 4-1 with a counter attack score.  Janelle Shelby (Sr., San Diego, Calif., Grossmont HS) scored on a 6-on-5 to make it 4-2. Hill then scored her second from the front court to push the lead to 5-2. Emily Donohoe scored on a counter attack to make it 6-2. Ashley Zwirner got in on the scoring action to extend the lead to 7-2. Hill then completed her hat trick with a counter attack score to give the Bruins an 8-2 lead at the break.

Mackenzie Barr opened the scoring in the third with a power play goal at the 7:27 mark to give the Bruins a 9-2 advantage. Rachel Fattal scored a penalty goal to push the lead to 10-2. Barr then made a nice drive and finish to give the Bruins an 11-2 edge with her second goal of the game. Danielle Ferraro scored back-to-back goals to extend the Bruins' scoring streak to nine. Grab scored her second of the game to end the scoring in the third with UCLA leading 14-2.

“UCLA had a lot of depth so it was tough to maintain that,” Gall said.

Katie Benson (So., La Crescenta, Calif., Crescenta Valley HS) opened the scoring in the fourth for CSU Bakersfield with a power play goal  to snap UCLA's scoring streak of 10 straight goals (14-3). Zwirner then scored her second of the game for UCLA. Nicole Reynolds scored her first of the game to give UCLA a 16-3 lead. Elissia Schilling, ended the scoring with a one-timer with :19 remaining to provide the 17-3 final.

“To start both of our first two conference games with a 2-1 first quarter is good, we just need to maintain that for four quarters,” Gall said.

The Roadrunners are off until Saturday, Mar. 28 when the 'Runners begin a two-game homestand against Cal. CSUB will host USC on Sunday Mar. 29. Both games begin at 1 p.m. Admission into the Hillman Aquatics Complex is free.

~www.GoRunners.com~

CSUB Goals: Bridgette Souza, Janelle Shelby, Katie Benson
CSUB Saves: Brittany Tyra 11

UCLA Goals: Kodi Hill 3, Mackenzie Barr 2, Danielle Ferraro 2, Emily Donohoe 2, Devin Grab 2, Ashley Zwirner 2, Alys Williams, Rachel Fattal, Nicole Reynolds, Elissia Schilling
UCLA Saves: Sami Hill 6, Alex Musselman 1