No. 4 Bears Go 2-0 on Day One of Stanford Invitational

STANFORD – The No. 4 Cal women's water polo team took down a pair of top-10 teams on Saturday, defeating No. 6 Michigan 15-12 and No. 10 Arizona State 15-3 on the first day of the Stanford Invitational at Avery Aquatic Center.

Junior Reagan Whitney continued to shine for the Bears (7-1), setting a new career-high with five goals in the win over the Wolverines (5-3) and adding two more against the Sun Devils (3-3). She has now scored 10 times over the last three games.

Cal began the day with a rematch against Michigan, a team it defeated 13-10 during the first weekend of the season. After sophomore Janna Tauscher's opening goal in semi-transition gave the Bears an early lead, the Wolverines answered with three straight to end the opening period.

Momentum quickly shifted in the second quarter as Cal found its rhythm on both ends of the pool. Sophomore Jessie Rose fed Tauscher inside for her second goal, and two minutes later, excellent ball movement led to a Maddie DeMattia goal, making it 4-3 in Michigan's favor.

The Bears closed out the final two minutes of the half flawlessly. On successive possessions, goalkeeper Isabel Williams led freshman Millie Quin on the break for an equalizer, followed by a gorgeous far-post shot from junior Ruby Swadling and then a steal-and-score for Whitney, giving Cal a 6-4 edge heading into halftime.

Not 90 seconds into the second half, senior Cecily Turner turned in an outrageous goal from way outside, getting fouled with one second on the shot clock before quickly firing it past the defense to make it 7-4. The Wolverines had one more run left in them, getting back within a goal late in the third. However, three fourth quarter goals from Whitney – two coming on penalties – sealed the deal as Cal cruised comfortably to the finish line.

"It felt really good. I felt like people had trust in me and I wanted to follow through and make everybody proud," Whitney said of being chosen to take the back-to-back penalties. "We started off slow, kind of had a stressful situation with our bus breaking down so we had to warm up quickly, but we were able to pull things together."

Later in the day, the Bears put together one of their best defensive efforts so far this season against ASU, allowing their fewest goals yet behind suffocating on-ball pressure and more stellar work in the cage from Williams. The senior had eight saves in three quarters and stopped all three penalties fired her way.

Her first penalty save came in the midst of a 3-0 run to open the game, as junior Maryn Dempsey, sophomore Rozanne Voorvelt and senior Shea Salvino all got on the scoresheet early.

The Sun Devils answered with two straight goals, but Turner came right back with another rocket from the outside and it was all Cal from there. Seven different Bears scored in the opening half, giving them a 7-2 lead at the break. Cal's defense allowed just one shot on frame in the second period.

The run continued in the third, as Swadling, Turner, Whitney and Salvino all secured braces before the quarter's end. The Sun Devils did manage five shots on target this time around, only resulting in five more saves by Williams.

After goals from Mara Loughlin, Helena Batey and Lindsey Harris in the fourth, ASU finally ended the run at 11 unanswered with a goal in the closing minutes. Redshirt junior Alyssa Barnuevo also tallied three saves of her own at goalkeeper over the final eight minutes.

Tomorrow, for the second straight Sunday, the Bears will take on tournament host No. 1 Stanford at 12:30 p.m. in their final game of the weekend.
 

No. 4 Cal 15, No. 6 Michigan 12
Cal 1 5 4 5 - 15
UMich 3 1 3 5 - 12
Michigan Goals: Kata Utassy 4, Ava Morrant 3, Erin Neustrom 2, Lola Ciruli, Libby Alsemgeest, Elise Walker
Cal Goals: Reagan Whitney 5, Cecily Turner 2, Ruby Swadling 2, Janna Tauscher 2, Maryn Dempsey, Claire Rowell, Maddie DeMattia, Millie Quin
Michigan Saves: Alex Brown 8
Cal Saves: Isabel Williams 9

No. 4 Cal 15, No. 10 Arizona State 3
Cal 3 4 4 4 - 15
ASU 1 1 0 1 - 3
Arizona State Goals: Juliette Dhalluin, Luca Petovary, Sophie Shorter-Robinson
Cal Goals: Cecily Turner 2, Ruby Swadling 2, Shea Salvino 2, Lindsey Harris 2, Reagan Whitney 2, Maryn Dempsey, Mara Loughlin, Maddie DeMattia, Helena Batey, Rozanne Voorvelt
Arizona State Saves: Itzahiana Baca 5, Alexa Knutson 3
Cal Saves: Isabel Williams 8, Alyssa Barnuevo 3