Water Polo Recap: Maddie Musselman Shines At UCSB Winter Invite
The 2022 UCSB Winter Invite wrapped up last weekend in sunny Santa Barbara, with 12 women’s water polo teams back in the pool to kick off their seasons.
The No. 18 Gauchos returned with an at-home start after their 2021 season was canceled after just a month due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The last time UCSB hosted the Winter Invite was in 2020, when the Gauchos started the year with a 9-8 upset against No. 2 UCLA.
Santa Barbara posted another strong start to its season this year with four wins over Ottawa, No. 23 Wagner, No. 19 Princeton and Brown, and two losses to formidable opponents in No. 16 SJSU and No. 3 UCLA. The Gauchos overcame a 12-9 deficit against Brown with two minutes left in the final quarter to pull out a 14-13 win in overtime, the team’s third-straight goal point win of the tournament. Against UCLA, UCSB freshmen attackers Aidan Flynn and redshirt Leigh Lyter turned in strong performances with multiple-goal efforts, but the Bruins closed with five unanswered goals to win, 21-8.
UCLA did not hold back in its first games of the season, hitting double digits in every matchup to leave the tournament undefeated. After posting huge wins over Wagner (15-8), No. 21 CBU (20-3), and OUAZ (21-1), the Bruins met No. 9 UC San Diego. The teams were locked up at 4-4 in the second period, but UCLA scored six straight to take command of the game. UCSD grad center Ciara Franke and UCLA freshman utility Nicole Strauss both scored hat tricks for their teams, and redshirt senior attacker Maddie Musselman added two goals of her own.
Musselman rounded out the weekend with 14 goals on 20 shots for a .700 percentage, and led the Bruins with five assists, 10 steals and 19 total points. The Olympian’s performance resulted in her 11th career MPSF honors as Player of the Week.
The Tritons broke even with a 2-2 record in the tournament. A strong defensive output and last-second score cost UCSD a loss to Wagner in its first game, but it harnessed last-quarter energy against SJSU. With just a 7-6 lead at the end of the third, the Tritons scored three unanswered goals to bring the tally to 10-6.
San Jose State’s freshman Cila David captured the MPSF Newcomer of the Week award, the first time in three years that a Spartan has earned the honor. David scored 10 goals across the tournament, with five against UCSB in her college debut. SJSU left Santa Barbara with a strong 4-1 record, its best start in six years, with wins over UCSB (15-7), CBU (18-9), Brown (13-6) and Iona (17-7).
Cal Baptist University found some tough matchups among a handful of top-20 opponents, leaving the invite winless. Despite the record, individual players had strong performances. Overall, senior attacker Kira O’Donell tallied five goals and seven ejections drawn, while freshman utility Cayleigh Carter scored four goals in her first appearance for the Lancers.
Also leaving the weekend with a perfect record is No. 11 Indiana, scoring 64 goals to their opponents’ 21. The Hoosiers shut down their only ranked opponent in CBU, bolting to a 7-2 lead. Senior center Izzy Mandema captured a pair of hat tricks in games against Azusa Pacific and Iona, and 11 different players chimed in to an 18-8 win over the latter.
Wagner, despite playing last year, earned itself the No. 19 position in the College Water Polo Association rankings, starting the season strong. Joining their roster this season are nine newcomers, including sophomore attacker Carlota Alonso, who earned a hat trick, four assists and four steals in her first game as a Seahawk against Azusa Pacific. Wagner held its own against the Bruins, ultimately losing 15-8, but boasted strong play from sophomore attacker Mar Navarro, who had her best game with four goals on six shots, one assist and four exclusions.
The Seahawks carry on into the rest of the season at 2-2, sharing the same record with Azusa Pacific and Princeton. Brown and Iona left Santa Barbara with 1-3 records, and Ottawa has yet to claim a victory at 0-6.
Coming up this weekend is a set of games for Iona and Harvard at the Villanova Invite. CBU will host the Lancer Joust with participants Fresno Pacific, UC San Diego, Biola, UCSB, Concordia, No. 25 CSUN and Pomona-Pitzer.
No. 8 Michigan will host No. 6 Hawaii, No. 2 Stanford, No. 22 Marist, UCLA and more at their invitational. The Wolverines traveled to Tempe this past weekend for the ASU Cross Conference Water Polo Challenge, triumphing over No. 7 UC Irvine, No. 10 Fresno State and No. 4 ASU only to lose to No. 5 Cal, 12-8.
The undefeated Bears will host their Cal Cup as well this weekend with matches against Fresno State, No. 13 Pacific, No. 12 Long Beach State and SJSU. USC will host a round-robin tournament with local competitors Claremont-Mudd-Scripps and Occidental.