BAKERSFIELD, Calif.—No. 2 UCLA defeated No. 25 CSU Bakersfield 10-3 in the quarterfinals of the MPSF Tournament Friday morning at the Hillman Aquatic Complex.
The Roadrunners scored first when Nicola Barrett converted a power play chance 2:37 into the first period. Ashley Zwimer tied the match a little under two minutes later before Devin Grab put the Bruins into the lead at the 1:40 mark of the opening stanza.
Ashley Paz recorded her 50th goal of the season on a 'Runner power play with 3:43 to go in the first half. Mackenzie Barr scored 1:03 later to put UCLA up by two. Kristen Jensen recorded the final goal of the first with 76 seconds remaining.
The third quarter proved to be the downfall for the Roadrunners. CSUB went on offense seven times in the eight-minute span, but committed six turnovers as the Bruins scored three times. UCLA would score three more times in the fourth quarter to make it the final seven-goal margin. Friday's match was the third consecutive season that the Bruins and CSUB met in the MPSF quarterfinals.
Zwimmer, Lizette Rozeboom, and Grabb each scored twice for UCLA. The Bruins outshot the Roadrunners 32-18, but were only 1-for-8 on the power play. CSUB scored twice in their five 6-on-5 opportunities. 'Runner goalie Courtney Wahlstrom made 14 saves.
“We had a great first half,” said CSUB head coach Jason Gall. “We could have actually been up a few goals. Last year at this tournament, we were down 7-0 after the quarter to UCLA. I'm really proud of how were able to compete. Courtney was great in goal today.”
The Roadrunners face No. 13 San Jose State in an elimination match at 11 a.m. on Saturday. The Spartans lost 10-6 to No. 3 Stanford. UCLA faces Stanford in the Saturday semifinals at 12:45
MPSF QUARTERFINAL HIGHLIGHTS
No. 3 Stanford 10, No. 6 San Jose State 6
The Cardinal led 6-1 at halftime before the Spartans outscored Stanford 5-4 in the second half. Both teams took 26 shots, but the Cardinal were 4-of-7 on power play chances, compared to 1-of-5 for the Spartans.
Katie Dudley, Gurpreet Sohi, and Madison Berggren each scored two goals for Stanford. SJSU's Rae Lekness scored twice and is now one goal away from tying the MPSF record for most goals in a career (290).
No. 5 California, 4, No. 4 Arizona State 3
In a defensive struggle, the Bears became the only lower seed to win on day one of the tournament, defeating the Sun Devils 4-3. Pippa Saunders' second goal of the day with 2:25 remaining in the fourth quarter proved to be the difference. The Sun Devils' last chance came with 28 seconds to go when Maude Koopman's shot went off the post.
Cal will now play the No. 1 seed, USC, at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday afternoon.
