SAN JOSE – The No. 6 California women's water polo team pulled away with a 5-0 run midway through its MPSF Quarterfinal against No. 15 Indiana on Friday and held on to defeat the Hoosiers 9-7 at San Jose State's SRAC Pool.

Three different Golden Bears (18-8) scored twice, while senior goalkeeper Isabel Williams stopped nine shots and junior Ruby Swadling tallied a game-high three assists. Swadling also scored once, putting away a crucial late goal after Indiana (17-13) had cut a four-goal Bear lead to one in the final minutes.

"That was a great win," Cal head coach Coralie Simmons said. "We got to get a lot of combinations in, test the waters with new groups and some things that we're going to bring to the table the rest of the weekend."

After they failed to capitalize on a couple of early power plays, the Hoosiers opened the scoring at the 2:50 mark of the opening period. Freshman Abbi Magee came through in a big way with two great-looking equalizers, sending the Bears into the second quarter tied 2-2.

"Abbi showed up big for us," Simmons said. "She kind of broke the ice, so a really big pat on the back on her side of things in terms of breaking things open for us."

Cal's defense locked Indiana down from there, putting together a second quarter shutout. Sophomore Rozanne Voorvelt gave the Bears their first lead early in the period, filling into the space the defense allowed her and firing it in from center.

Swadling assisted on two more Cal goals before halftime. First, she found senior Shea Salvino for a quick strike to put the Bears up 4-2. On their final possession of the half, Swadling fed it inside to Mallory Reynoso in a great position to slam it down past Indiana goalkeeper Mary Askew.

The Bear shutout lasted for nearly 16 minutes of game time as the Hoosiers struggled to find any holes in the defense. Voorvelt scored her second of the day on a 6-on-5 with 2:58 left in the third, giving Cal a commanding 6-2 advantage. The Hoosiers finally found an answer with a penalty before the end of the quarter.

"We take a lot of pride in what we do on the defensive end and how that kind of generates things for us on offense," Simmons said. "That spell was kind of what triggered everyone to get the job done in the second half and come together strong."

In the opening minute of the fourth, redshirt freshman Claire Rowell put in one of the best goals of the day, placing a shot into the top corner of the far left post to put the Bears back up four, 7-3. Indiana wasn't done yet though, coming up with a series of stops while scoring three goals in quick succession to make it a 7-6 game with 3:52 to go.

Senior Cecily Turner drew a key exclusion on the next play and the Bears worked it around, forcing the defense into scramble mode. Junior Maryn Dempsey finally gave it to Swadling for a clean look from straight away and she buried it to double Cal's lead, 8-6. Rowell – who led the Bears with four goals in their 9-7 victory over Indiana in March – followed up a minute later with a dagger goal, her second of the quarter, to seal the win.

"We're a deep team. If we bring all of our threats and our arsenal to the table, we're hard to defend," Simmons said. "It was fun seeing Claire come to the table again against Indiana. She had some big goals against them the last time we played."

Aside from contributing two goals on the offensive end, Voorvelt made a huge impact defensively, blocking three shots. Junior Maddie DeMattia finished with a game-high four drawn exclusions.

The Bears will now shift their focus to Saturday's MPSF Semifinal against No. 1 USC at 2:30 p.m. This will be the first meeting between the two teams since the Trojans narrowly escaped with a 15-14 overtime win in Berkeley on March 11.

 

No. 6 California 9, No. 15 Indiana 7
Cal 2 3 1 3 – 9
Indiana 2 0 1 4 – 7
Cal Goals: Claire Rowell 2, Rozanne Voorvelt 2, Abbi Magee 2, Mallory Reynoso, Ruby Swadling, Shea Salvino
IU Goals: Skylar Kidd 2, Sophia Sollie, Robyn Greenslade, Zoe Crouch, Grace Hathaway, Portia Sasser
Cal Saves: Isabel Williams 9
IU Saves: Mary Askew 15

STAY POSTED
For further coverage of Cal women's water polo, follow the Bears on Twitter (@CalWWPolo), Instagram (@calwwpolo) and Facebook (CalWomensWaterPolo).