When No. 14 Indiana water polo hosted No. 1 University of California, Los Angeles Bruins on March 2, it hoped to upset the best team in the nation.
Even though the Hoosiers dominated the second half —outscoring UCLA 8-3 — the Bruins had the upper hand against Indiana in attempts (34-31), saves (15-14) and steals (11-8) en route to a 13-9 win.
UCLA went into the match with a 14-0 record, coming off a championship Feb. 25 at the Barbara Kalbus Invitational. Indiana competed in the same tournament as the Bruins, taking home 13th place.
The Hoosiers got off to a rocky start in the first quarter as the Bruins notched the first four goals with a pair coming from freshman utility player Panni Szegedi. Sophomore attacker Louisa Downes managed to get the Hoosiers on board with 2:40 left in the first, but the Bruins responded with two more goals to take a commanding 6-1 lead after the first.
Indiana struggled to find the back of the net in the second quarter as UCLA kept the Hoosiers scoreless. The Bruins logged four goals in the second with Szegedi earning a hat trick, giving UCLA a 10-1 lead going into the break.
Indiana was dominant in the third as it tried to comeback. The Hoosiers outscored the Bruins 5-2 in the quarter as junior center Sophia Sollie and junior attacker Skylar Kidd recorded two goals each while sophomore attacker Grace Klingler scored her first goal of the match. Still, the Bruins had a comfortable 12-6 lead on the Hoosiers going into the fourth quarter.
In the final quarter, Indiana outscored UCLA 3-1 as Kidd earned a hat trick. However, Indiana’s dominant second half wasn’t enough to catch the Bruins.
The Hoosiers head out west Friday and Saturday to compete in the Aztec Invite in San Diego, California, beginning with a matchup at 1:20 p.m, ET Friday against San Diego State University.
