LOS ANGELES, Calif. — Kylie Walker and Jordan Naughton both scored four times to share Player of the Game recognition and Kiana Lee tacked on a solo marker to account for all the offense defending National Champion/Sierra Pacific Division Champion/No. 1-ranked the University of California required to overcome host/Pacific Coast Division runner-up/No. 6 the University of California-Los Angeles, 9-8, in the opening game of the 2023 Women’s National Collegiate Club Championship.
Competing at UCLA’s Sunset Canyon Recreation Center’s Park Pool, the Golden Bears punched their ticket into the tournament’s quarterfinals at 10:10 a.m. on Saturday, May 6, at Park Pool where California will face the victor of an opening round contest pitting New England Division Champion/No. 11 Boston University and Sierra Pacific Division runner-up/No. 10 the University of California-Davis. UCLA will take on the fallen from the Boston University-vs.-UC-Davis game at 9:00 a.m. at the Spieker Aquatics Center in the consolation side of the bracket.
Due to the loss, UCLA can not finish higher than ninth place in the final championship standings, while California via the win can not finish lower than eighth.
California jumped on the scoreboard first as Naughton nailed an icebreaker 40 seconds into the game (6:20) to stake the Golden Bears to a 1-0 margin. UCLA answered with back-to-back-strikes as Annabella Rapp and Leah Caywood put away natural chances at 3:43 and 1:06, respectively, to turn the tables on Cal and push the Bruins in front at 2-1.
Walker squared the squads at two-all prior to the close of the first quarter as she deposited a shot into the twine with three seconds on the clock.
UCLA returned to the lead 29 seconds into the second quarter as Charley Jackson lanced in a shot (6:29), but Naughton cashed in a man-up chance with 4:24 until halftime to deadlock the teams once again at three-all.
Meena Khan returned UCLA to the lead 21 seconds later by torquing in a tally at the 4:03 mark as the Bruins acquired a 4-3 advantage on the scoreboard entering halftime.
California gained some momentum in the first two minutes of the third quarter as Walker wailed in man-up (5:56) and even-strength (5:16) bids to give the Golden Bears a 5-4 lead.
Savannah Sherwood evened the damage between the teams to five-all at the 5:04 mark, but the game turned over the next three minutes as Lee (4:04) and Naughton (3:53; 2:14) combined for a 3-0 outburst to provide California an 8-5 lead through 21 minutes of action.
Walker padded the Golden Bears’ lead to 9-5 with 4:29 left in the fourth quarter via a penalty shot. The goal, which appeared to cushion Cal’s lead out to four goals on the way to an inevitable victory, proved decisive as Khan (2:00), Rapp (1:29, man-up) and Jaden Nguyen (1:00) made it a game at 9-8 with back-to-back-to-back strikes to put the Bruins on the precipice of a dramatic comeback.
However, the California defense stiffened to keep UCLA in check over the final 60 seconds and allow the Golden Bears to escape into the quarterfinals with a one-goal victory.
For UCLA, Khan and Rapp both accounted for pairs of goals, while Jackson, Caywood, Sherwood and Nguyen chipped in solo points.
In cage, Anna Vaughan made six saves for UCLA, while Georgia Stebbins stopped eight shots for California.
| 1st Q | 2nd Q | 3rd Q | 4th Q | – | FINAL | |
| No. 1 University of California |
2 | 1 | 5 | 1 | – | 9 |
| No. 6 University of California-Los Angeles | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | – | 8 |
| UCLA Goals: | Meena Khan (2); Annabella Rapp (2); Charley Jackson; Leah Caywood; Savannah Sherwood; Jaden Nguyen | |||||
| California Goals: | Kylie Walker (4); Jordan Naughton (4); Kiana Lee | |||||
| Saves: | UCLA – Anna Vaughan (6) ; California – Georgia Stebbins (8) |
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| Exclusions: | UCLA – 10 ; California – 2 | |||||
| Advantage Opportunities: | UCLA – 1-for-2 ; California – 3-for-10 | |||||
| Cards/Misconducts: | UCLA – None ; California – None | |||||
| Officials: | Bruce Morehouse; Carlos Fuentes | |||||
