Cassie Wyckoff

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Grace Reynolds scored twice on man-up chances in the first period as the No. 3-nationally ranked University of California-Los Angeles Bruins finished four-for-five on advantage chances in escaping No. 10-ranked and Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Eastern Champion Indiana University 8-5 in the opening round of the 2011 Women's National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Championship at the University of Michigan's Canham Natatorium.

UCLA will face No. 2 seed and No. 2 nationally-ranked the University of California, a 13-5 victor over No. 7 seed and No. 14-ranked University of California-San Diego in the tournament's opening game, at 6:00 p.m. tomororw (Saturday, May 14) in the semifinals.  The Hoosiers fall into the consolation side of the bracket with a 1:30 p.m. game against UC-San Diego on tap with a berth in the fifth place game on the line.

The No. Bruins wasted little time in putting Indiana in a hole by firing home three man-up shots, including a pair by Reynolds at 6:56 and 3:33, to jump out to a 3-0 lead and put the Hoosiers on the defensive and in catch-up mode for the remainder of the contest.

Already leading 2-0 following Reynolds' pair of advantage markers, the Bruins slashed the Hoosiers with a man-up tally from the hand of Brooke Martin at 2:38 to jump out to a three-score lead.

Shae Fournier (Fr., Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada/Grant Park) moved the Hoosiers to within 3-1 by accepting a centering pass from Jakie Kohli (Jr., Burnaby, B.C., Canada/Moscrop Secondary) and ripping a line-drive shot into the upper left side of the cage with 2:13 glowing from Michigan's Jon Urbancheck Memorial scoreboard. 

However, Priscilla Orozco turned Kohli inside five meters, collected a loose ball in front of the cage and flipped a ball around the forward-diving body of Hoosiers' goalie Cassie Wyckoff (Jr., Los Altos, Calif./Los Altos) to put the Bruins ahead 4-1 11 seconds before the conclusion of the first period.

It took the Hoosiers until the 4:14 mark of the second period to respond as Kara Butler (Sr., Poway, Calif./Poway) harangued the UCLA defense for a penalty and Fournier skipped the ensuing five-meter shot past a nearly unresponsive UCLA goalie Caitlin Dement to slice the deficit to 4-2.

Noel Umphrey factored in the next two scoring chances by the teams as she cocked and fired a rocket from seven-meters out the eluded Wyckoff with 47 ticks left on the first half clock.  The Hoosiers had a chance to respond 15 seconds later when Umphrey was whistled for a five-meter penalty, but the post and Dement tormented the Hoosiers as the shot ricocheted off the inside of the right post and back-out to keep the game at 5-2 entering halftime.

Combined, the teams hit nine posts and crossbars in the first half, including seven by UCLA, as the Bruins received the better of the scoring chances in the opening 16 minutes of competition.

Indiana opened the scoring in the third period with a tally by Nicole Redder (Sr., Grandville, Mich./Jenison) courtesy a quick shot on a kickout call at 5:43 to pull the Hoosiers to within 5-3. 

Neither team could solve the other's defense for the remainder of the period as UCLA kept Indiana to no further than half tank on four consecutive possessions, while Wyckoff frustrated the Bruins' offense with save-after-save-after-save to keep her team in the game leading up to the climatic fourth period.

It took UCLA nearly 11 minutes to solve Wyckoff again as a lob shot by Giselle Natanjo sailed up and over the head of the Hoosiers' goalie with 6:04 remaining in regulation to stake the Bruins to a 6-4 lead.

However, Indiana would not go silently into the warm Ann Arbor evening as Kohli whipped in a power play tally at the 5:43 mark to return the contest to a two-score contest at 6-4.

The Bruins attempted to stall Indiana's momentum holding the Hoosiers' players and blocking their swimming paths during transition to keep the Hoosiers' speed at bay before Emily Greenwood skipped in a shot at 2:01 following a steal by UCLA on a Hoosiers' fast-break to make it a 7-4 game.

Indiana responded once again as Redder rattled the cage with a quick shot  off a man-up chance and pass from Kohli at 1:34 to pull the Hoosiers back to within two at 7-5, but Kelly Easterday turned at two-meters and zipped a shot past Wyckoff with 1:13 left in regulation for the 8-5 final score.

Overall, the story of the game was both squads assault on the iron as the two teams combined to hit a post or crossbar 15 times, including four times by Indiana in the decisive second half.

Inches inside the iron, Wyckoff posted seven saves in taking the loss, while Dement stopped 10 shots to pick-up the victory.

The game is similar to the last meeting between the two programs as Indiana, which falls to 0-7 all-time against the Bruins, encountered UCLA at the 2011 Stanford Invitational and fell 9-4 after battling the Bruins to a two-goal deficit with under four minutes to play in the fourth period before giving up a late run.

UCLA Goals: Grace Reynolds (2); Priscilla Orozco; Emily Greenwood; Brooke Martin; Noel Umphrey; Kelly Easterday; Giselle Naranjo

Indiana Goals: Shae Fournier (2); Nicole Redder (2); Jakie Kohli

Saves: UCLA - Caitlin Dement (10) ; Indiana - Cassie Wyckoff (7)

Exclusions: UCLA - 11 ; Indiana - 5

Advantage Opportunities:  UCLA - 4-for-5 ; Indiana - 5-for-11

Sprints: UCLA - 3-for-4 (2nd, 3rd, 4th) ; Indiana - 1-for-4 (1st)

Cards: None

Officials: Mark Koganov, Steve Rotsart