LOS ANGELES – The No. 5 Cal women's water polo team held No. 4 Arizona State to just two goals for over the final 15 minutes of the game and the Golden Bears went on to a 9-7 victory Friday in the quarterfinals of the MPSF Tournament.

With the win, the Bears (15-7) advance to the MPSF semifinals against top-seeded UCLA at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday.

Cal tightened up its defense with 3:28 left in the third period, holding the Sun Devils without a goal for over the next six minutes while scoring three unanswered goals to break a tie and lead 8-5 with 7:15 to play. Arizona State got a goal back but then went scoreless again for almost six minutes. By the time the Sun Devils scored again, the Bears led 9-6 with only 90 seconds remaining.

"I think for the most part we came into this game wanting to play suffocating defense," said Cal goalie Madeline Trabucco, who had another strong performance with 11 saves. "There were a couple of momentum swings, but overall we kept our cool. Our rock is our defense. It's what we have been relying on."

It was another in an impressive stretch for Trabucco, who was coming off a career-high 12 saves in Cal's last game against No. 2 USC. Junior Dora Antal led the Bears with three goals, moving her into sole possession of fourth place on Cal's all-time scoring list with 192 in her career. She had a team-best 48 goals this season.

Freshman Emma Wright had a pair of goals for the Bears, including the one that put Cal ahead for good at 6-5 with 1:53 left in the third period. Senior Genevieve Weed also scored twice for California.

"Our confidence is coming from our defense," Trabucco said. "At the end of the day, goals are going to come. But I think if we play well on defense, we can beat any team out there."

The win helped strengthen the Bears' case for an at-large berth to the NCAA Championships. Cal has now beaten Arizona State two of three times this season, with its only loss coming by one goal. The Bears also beat the Sun Devils 10-4 at the Barbara Kalbus Invitational.

"We have really focusing all year on one quarter at a time and one possession at a time," Trabucco said. "We have been focusing on every game like it is a championship game. Obviously, we wanted to play well to give ourselves the best chance to qualify for NCAAs. But at the end of the day we just wanted to come out and play well."


No. 5 Cal 9, No. 4 Arizona State 7
Cal 2 1 4 2 – 9
ASU 2 1 2 2 – 7
Cal Goals: Dora Antal 3, Genevieve Weed 2, Emma Wright 2, Kacey Avalos, Sarah Siepker.
ASU Goals: Bente Rogge 3, Kayla Casas 2, Alkistis Benekou, Lena Mihailovic.
Cal Saves: Madeline Trabucco 11.
ASU Saves: Mia Rycraw 11.