One win away!? Host Cal Women's Water Polo in NCAA Championship Final vs. UCLA (7 PM PT, ESPNU)
Cal head coach Coralie Simmons has already made history for being the first female head coach to bring her team to the NCAA Championship final
After two dominant wins over No.9 Fresno State and No.2 Hawaii, California Golden Bears are a mere 32 minutes (unless the match goes to OT) away from a potential first NCAA national championship in program history.
From Spieker Aquatics Complex in Berkeley this evening at 7 PM PT, host No.3 Cal (19-6) will take on No.1 UCLA (25-0). Some limited tickets are likely still available if you want to root for the Cal Bears in person. The rest of us can watch the NCAA Championship Final on ESPNU on TV or ESPN+ online.
Cal is surely playing their best water polo in their home pool this weekend. Golden Bears led both their quarterfinal and semifinal wins wire-to-wire: after Cal jumped out to an early lead, they maintained a healthy three+ goal lead in the second halves of both victories.
https://twitter.com/CalWWPolo/status/1789488403853222246
A pair of seniors led the Bears offensively and defensively. Maryn Dempsey scored a brace against Fresno State and a hat-trick against Hawaii. The senior attacker has scored in every Cal match this season. Isabel Williams, already the Cal all-time leader in saves, extended her record by stopping 17 shots against Fresno State and another 14 against Hawaii (including another penalty save). It was a total team effort defensively though, with the Cal Bears credited with 18 and 17 blocks in the two matches in front of Williams. The great Cal defense killed 12 power plays against Fresno State and 15 power plays against Hawaii.
Cal made life easier for themselves by taking advantage of their own power play opportunities. Golden Bears scored on 5/10 opportunities with a player advantage against Fresno State and then 4/8 against Hawaii. Both of the wins went so well that the only nitpick may be how the Bears perhaps did not earn as many exclusions (which led to power plays) and were arguably fouling too much (a common issue for a defensive squad) with two defensive players fouling out against Hawaii after picking up three exclusions.
On Friday night against Fresno State, Cal started the match fast with four and five goals scored in the first two quarters, including many via counter-attacks. Five Bears registered a brace in a balanced scoring attack.
No. 3 California 14, No. 9 Fresno State 7
Cal 4 5 2 3 – 14
FSU 1 3 2 1 – 7
Cal Goals: Maryn Dempsey 2, Julia Bonaguidi 2, Elena Flynn 2, Rozanne Voorvelt 2, Abbi Magee 2, Mallory Reynoso, Claire Rowell, Julianne Snyder, Jessie Rose
FSU Goals: Hailey Andress 3, Abbey Simshauser 2, Elisa Grim, Ashley Williams
Cal Saves: Isabel Williams 17
FSU Saves: Paula Nieto Jasny 8
On Saturday late afternoon, a big second quarter when the Cal Bears found the back of the net six times allowed the hosts to cruise to Sunday’s championship final. Cal again capitalized on several counter opportunities with better passing than earlier in the regular season.
No. 3 California 9, No. 2 Hawaii 6
Cal 2 6 0 1 – 9
UH 1 2 1 2 – 6
Cal Goals: Maryn Dempsey 3, Claire Rowell, Julia Bonaguidi, Elena Flynn, Rozanne Voorvelt, Julianne Snyder, Feline Voordouw
UH Goals: Bernadette Doyle 3, Bia Mantellato Dias 2, Alba Bonamusa Boix
Cal Saves: Isabel Williams 14
UH Saves: Daisy Logtens 11
If you missed it, the entire Cal vs. Hawaii semifinal is available on YouTube (embedded below) and the NCAA website.
This 2024 national championship run is a confluence of several things going in Cal’s favor. At the risk of repeating what I wrote on Friday, here are some quick bullet points for why Cal can win their 1st national championship title, with specific information on the UCLA Bruins.
The field is wide open due to the 2024 Paris Olympics: even with the world catching up to the USA in women’s team sports, the USA Women’s Water Polo team remains a dominant force. Many players on that squad still got collegiate eligibility. UCLA Bruins are missing attacker Emma Lineback, who registered 50+ goals in a season, to an Olympic redshirt year. Stanford’s bid for an NCAA three-peat was thwarted by having four stars on Team USA.
Home pool advantage: Cal Women’s Water Polo is hosting the NCAA Championships for the first time in program history. The last two times when Spieker hosted the NCAA Men’s Water Polo Championship in 2016 and then 2022, California Golden Bears were the national champions after some exciting water polo. Cal needed OT to beat USC in 2016 and an incredible comeback fueled by Nikolaos Papanikolaou to beat USC in 2022.
Senior experience: 5th-year senior Isabel Williams is the best keeper in Cal history. This Cal team also relies on seniors throughout the lineup. Sure, the championship window is this season only, but a championship banner will fly forever. UCLA is relying on a freshman goalkeeper Lauren Steele. Two of their top attackers are also freshmen: Panni Szegedi, who does have international experience with Hungary, and Becca Melanson. Szegedi took UCLA’s penalties. Interestingly for Cal, freshman Julia Bonaguidi converted Cal’s penalty in the semifinal.
Defense wins championship - at least that’s the conventional wisdom across all sports. When the scores are low, chances are that leads will also be small. It might come down to the executions of a few possessions in the fourth quarter.
Pressure is on UCLA: The Bruins might have a perfect season of 25-0 thus far, but they are also seeking a first natty since 2009. How will UCLA react if they find themselves in the unfamiliar position of trailing late? UCLA’s two water polo programs are both coached by Adam Wright, so he experienced a championship final loss to Cal as recently as last December when the Cal men won their 3rd consecutive national championship. Against Stanford in the semifinal, UCLA allowed the Cardinal to hang around until the third quarter. It is far from a sure thing that UCLA won’t merely get their 5th runner-up trophy since 2009.
Cal Women’s Water Polo can be just the 4th Cal Athletics women’s program to earn an NCAA team title by the end of today, joining Softball, Women’s Rowing, and Women’s Swimming and Diving.
The championship final will not be easy, but if a few shots hit a post and/or if the referees opt to call some fouls here or there, either Cal or UCLA can lift the 2024 NCAA Women’s Water Polo championship trophy after the final whistle. We are biased here to think that the far better story would be Cal completing the Aquatics Slam: national championships in men’s and women’s swimming and diving and men’s and women’s water polo.
ROLL ON YOU BEARS!