The 2017 NCAA Women’s Water Polo semifinals on Saturday offered an exact replay of the MPSF tournament semifinal two weeks ago, with #1 UCLA against #4 California and #2 Stanford versus #3 USC. The only difference was the venue; the Indianapolis Natatorium is host for this year NCAAs.
In the earlier match, UCLA was never headed in beating California 14-11. Led by Maddie Musselman’s four goals and three apiece from Mackenzie Barr and Rachel Fattal, the Bruins beat the Golden Bears for the fourth time this season to advance to their third NCAA championship game in the past four years and eleventh in program history.
<Top-Seeded UCLA Beats Cal to Advance to NCAA WWP Title Match>
In the second semi-final, two Jordan Raney goals allowed Stanford to come from a goal behind in the fourth quarter and beat USC 11-10, dashing the Trojans’ hopes of a second straight NCAA championship. Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Play of the Year Maggie Steffens led the Cardinal with four goals.
<Stanford tops USC 11-10 in Thrilling 2017 NCAA WWP Semifinal Match>
Sunday’s championship match between UCLA (24-1) and Stanford (22-3) is at 3pm EST and available via live stream from the NCAA site.
Look for recaps from all NCAA WWP Tournament matches on the Swimming World site.