SAN JOSE – In the final minute of perhaps the most thrilling game the No. 6 California women's water polo team has been a part of this year, redshirt freshman Claire Rowell scored her third goal with 18 seconds left in regulation and senior goalkeeper Isabel Williams saved No. 3 UCLA's final shot attempt to claim a 12-11 win in the MPSF Championship Third-Place Game.

Rowell's heroic strike broke Cal (18-9) out of its sixth tie of the day – and third of the fourth quarter – with the Bruins (20-7). Then, for the second straight year, Cal's defense stuffed UCLA's potential last-chance equalizer to preserve a one-goal Bear victory.

It was a wild back-and-forth affair from the outset which saw three different Bears – Rowell, sophomore Rozanne Voorvelt and senior Cecily Turner – record hat tricks. Voorvelt scored both of Cal's goals in the opening period, giving her team a 2-1 lead through one. The Bruins scored three unanswered to open the second quarter, taking a 4-2 advantage, but the Bears responded with four straight to end the half.

Voorvelt's third goal of the day tied it at 4-4 with 2:35 to go before halftime. Cal didn't trail for the rest of the game.

Over a minute later, Rowell turned in a beauty to put the Bears back up by one as she caught UCLA goalkeeper Georgia Phillips leaning the wrong direction. Turner made it 6-4 at the buzzer with an effortless flick of the wrist, scoring from way outside for the second time in the opening half.

Despite three third-quarter goals by UCLA, Cal managed to hold an 8-7 lead heading into the final frame behind goals by junior Maddie DeMattia and Rowell. The Bruins scored on their first possession of the fourth though, tying it for the first time since the second quarter, 8-8.

That set the stage for Turner to come up clutch again with a pair of perfectly-placed strikes; shots which went to opposite sides of the net to put the Bears up 10-8 heading into the final five minutes. Once again, UCLA had an answer, scoring twice within 45 seconds to tie it at 10-10 with 2:53 remaining.

Over the final 90 seconds, three timeouts were called, each time leading to a goal. Voorvelt took a pass from Turner on a 6-on-5 and quickly fired it inside the far right post. That was her team-leading eighth goal of the tournament and fourth of the day, tying a season high.

14 seconds later, UCLA tied the game, forcing another Cal timeout. On their final attack of the day, the Bears patiently allowed time to tick off the clock. With four seconds left, Mallory Reynoso was fouled. She kicked it back out to Rowell whose shot from way outside skipped in off the near left post, giving Cal a 12-11 advantage with just 18 seconds remaining.

With one chance left to equalize, the Bruins couldn't get a clean look off, firing through a tight window that ended in yet another Williams save – her 14th of the game – to seal the Bear win.

Cal will now await the NCAA National Collegiate Women's Water Polo Selection Show, which takes place on Monday at 5 p.m. PT on NCAA.com, to see if they have earned an at-large berth to next month's NCAA Championships.

 

No. 6 California 12, No. 3 UCLA 11
Cal 2 4 2 4 – 12
UCLA 1 3 3 4 – 11
Cal Goals: Turner 4, Voorvelt 4, Rowell 3, DeMattia
UCLA Goals: Johnson 4, Palmer, Ayala, Green, Allen, Lineback, Renner, Drake
Cal Saves: Isabel Williams 14
UCLA Saves: Georgia Phillips 8

 

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