No. 1 UCLA Falls to No. 4 Stanford, 12-9

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IRVINE, Calif. -- No. 1 UCLA (18-1) dropped its first contest of the season to finish second at the Barbara Kalbus Invitational after a 12-9 setback to No. 4 Stanford (11-1) on Sunday afternoon at UC Irvine's Anteater Aquatics Complex. The Bruins fell to 37-54 all-time against the Cardinal.

The Bruins were led by senior Val Ayala, who had a hat trick and one assist for four total points. Freshman Emma Lineback scored two goals and added two assists for four total points as well. Sophomore Anneliese Miller and redshirt senior Maddie Musselman each contributed two goals.

Redshirt junior goalkeeper Georgia Phillips got the start in the cage and went the distance, recording 11 saves while allowing 12 goals. She made two stops on Stanford penalty shots to keep the Bruins in the game in the third and fourth periods.

Makenzie Fischer led the Cardinal with four goals and three assists for seven total points.

PERIOD ONE
> UCLA outscored Stanford 4-3 in the opening period.
> Ayala scored the opening goal (7:36) from the front court to put UCLA up 1-0.
> Then after Stanford scored on two power plays and a penalty shot to take a 3-1 advantage (4:36, 3:32, and 2:16), Lineback scored her first on a power play (1:45).
> Miller then scored back-to-back goals from the front court (1:05 and 0:02) to put UCLA up 4-3 after one.
 
PERIOD TWO
> Both teams battled to a 2-2 draw in the second period.
> Musselman would scored the fourth-straight goal for UCLA to open the scoring in the second quarter (4:33) to put the Bruins up 5-3.
> After another power play goal for Stanford (3:55), Ayala scored her second on a 6-on-5 opportunity to push the lead back to two at 6-4 (0:24).
> But Stanford regained the momentum with a penalty goal by Ryann Neushul (0:08) to end the scoring in the first half.
> UCLA led Stanford, 6-5, at the break.
 
PERIOD THREE
> The Cardinal outscored UCLA in the third period, 3-2.
> Musselman opened the scoring in the third with a penalty shot conversion (5:14) to extend the lead to 7-5.
> After another power play goal from Stanford (3:52), Lineback scored her second from the front court (3:35) to keep it a two-goal lead at 8-6.
> But that is when Stanford's offense got on track and scored five unanswered goals to take control of the game. The Cardinal scored a power play goal (1:10) followed by its first goal at even strength of the game (0:18) to tie it at 8-8 headed into the final frame.

PERIOD FOUR
> The Cardinal won the fourth period, 4-1, to provide the 12-9 final score.
> Stanford scored a power play goal at the 6:44 mark to take a 9-8 advantage, a lead it would never relinquish.
> The Cardinal led 11-8 after goals at 2:46 and 1:06. Ayala would complete her hat trick with a goal from the front court (0:56) to cut the deficit to 11-9.
> But Stanford's Hannah Constandse scored the final goal of the game from the front court (0:33) to end the scoring for the game.

UP NEXT
The Bruins will hit the road and return to MPSF action when they travel to face No. 3 California on Saturday, March 5 at 1:30 p.m. PT.

No. 4 Stanford vs. No. 1 UCLA (Barbara Kalbus Invitational - Finals)

6x5 - UCLA - 2/13 - STAN - 7/13
Penalties - UCLA - 1/1 - STAN - 2/4

STAN Goals: Makenzie Fischer 4, Ryann Neushul 3, Aria Fischer 1, Sophie Wallace 1, Skyler Jones 1, Katie Lyons 1, Hannah Constandse 1
STAN Saves: Maya Avital 11

UCLA Goals: Val Ayala 3, Anneliese Miller 2, Maddie Musselman 2, Emma Lineback 2
UCLA Saves: Georgia Phillips 11